Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Crux of the Alchemist
by Fiery Gray
Summary: UNDER EDITING! (VI): While the Shadow War continues far away from the walls of Hogwarts, Scorpius is left facing the frustration of being stuck inside starting his first year of NEWT classes. He finds himself drawn to the mysterious new Alchemy professor, the subject itself shedding light on certain things while Shadows and a defector lurk closer then he realizes. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: Summer Shadows

**_Parts (1-3)  
_**

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**VI  
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**Chapter 1  
**

Summer Shadows

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**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to JK Rowling_

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**_Author's Note:_**

_This is Book VI in my Gray series, if you have not read the others in the series then go back and read Book I _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Blood Runes, **_Book II _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Call of the Dark,**_ Book III _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Werewolf Army**, _Book IV _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Scepter of Night**_ and Book V _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Son of Voldemort**_ first because otherwise this won't make much sense_

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**Part 1: **Aurors and Not Aurors

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**_TURKEY FALLS TO SHADOWS_**

Head Auror Harry Potter – The Boy Who Lived – threw down the paper in disgust, he ran his hands through his jet black hair that was now snaked with gray but it was so untidy to begin with that disrupting it made no difference. He sighed heavily, letting his scarred forehead drop into his hands as the weight of the news seemed to drag it down. In less than a year the Shadows had taken complete control over not one but _two_ countries, not just the wizarding part either but the muggle one as well. It was a feat not even Voldemort had managed, something that made him almost miss the Dark Lord.

"Are you alright, Harry?" a voice inquired with concern.

Harry's head shot up at once, having momentarily forgotten he wasn't alone in his office. It was a moderately sized room and was moderately tidy, only the desk he sat at was strewn with files and rolls of parchment. His companion sat opposite and Harry peered at him with his emerald eyes, gazing through his rounded spectacles. The man met his gaze calmly, he too wore glasses but they almost seemed to hide the eyes behind them rather than exemplifying them like Harry's did somehow. They were a sharp shade of cyan at any rate, identical to his father's which was pretty much the only thing Logan Leebin shared with his son. He was slighter and paler, his features utterly different and his hair a reddish brown that seemed to spike naturally upwards, he was younger too and Harry had over a decade on him in age. He dressed completely differently to Logan too, Harry could count on his fingers the times he'd seen his mentor not dressed in Auror robes whereas Flannery wasn't even an Auror but a kind of wizard psychologist. Harry could never decide whether the scruffy clothes he wore where a muggle take on wizard clothes or a wizarding take on muggle clothes. He had a pale yellow scarf on as he usually did these days, hiding scars his werewolf wife had accidentally given him.

"Harry?" Flan prompted again, snapping him from his thoughts for a second time and in reply Harry simply tossed him the paper.

"Have you seen this?" Harry questioned seriously.

"Yes," Flan said slowly with a curious expression, "I'm the one who handed it to you."

"Sorry," Harry apologized, rubbing his tired eyes partly as an excuse to hide his face burning at his stupid statement.

"How much sleep are you getting?"

"Enough," Harry shot out defensively as his eyes darted back to the psychologist's, the younger man's glasses also did a better job of concealing the bags beneath his eyes, "Considering the circumstances. I can't truly rest with the Shadows still out there, with my son still out there."

"Any word on James?" Flan asked and Harry shook his head sadly, he worried for his son greatly and wanted nothing more then to know his eldest was alright.

"Not yet. I still believe he's part of Varanian's Gray lot, he rivals only the Shadow Master in staying off our radar so it's not useful for finding James. And I know it's the not the priority, the Shadows are," Harry added, holding up his hands defensively. After all, he blamed himself in part for the attack on Hogwarts and Hogsmeade a few months ago, if he hadn't been so focused on trying to find his missing son then he might not have almost lost his younger two children, "We stop the Shadow Master, the world - including James - is safer and then I can just focus on finding him."

"I guess that means in regards to Cald-"

"Tom Riddle III," Harry corrected icily, Flan glanced at him but said nothing, "And yes, considering the continued path of attack I find it unlikely that he is the Shadow Master. Either Voldemort had a second son or the guy is just lying, probably trying to instill added fear using the reputation preceding him or just bolster his own importance by claiming Riddle's heritage and trying to steal his identity. Something he has literally done in the past."

"Has he said anything?"

"About the Shadow Master? No," Harry admitted and shook his head for the second time, "Considering their similar mastery of magic, if they weren't siblings then they were trained together at some point so he's either protecting his brother or his friend. I'm quite confident he definitely knows the identity though, he just isn't talking even in exchange for his freedom."

"What freedom?" Flan scoffed, "He's been outed as Voldemort's son. If there's people campaigning for his execution now, imagine what it would be like if he was released? He couldn't go back to Hogwarts, he couldn't go back to his life. He's already lost any incentive he had for himself so why not protect this person he considers family?"

"The Shadow Master's evil, he should give us the guy's identity because it's the right thing to do," Harry protested determinedly, "If you were him, are you telling me you would protect this person?"

"If you were him, are you telling me you wouldn't?" Flan countered with an eyebrow rising, "It's easy to be on the outside looking in but from his perspective, right and wrong isn't so black and white when love and loyalty are involved."

"Do you think he'll turn eventually?" Harry questioned thoughtfully, in truth he hadn't given too much thought to Riddle's mindset and Flan was often useful at gauging that kind of thing. He rubbed his eyes again, maybe he did need more sleep if he missing things. Not that sleep came easily these days, he'd lay awake worrying and wondering about James or consoling Ginny for the same reason.

"I couldn't say," Flan shrugged it off and Harry felt a twinge of irritation towards to the Minister who was exceptionally strict on who could see Riddle, he a poor substitute for Kingsley in his eyes and didn't seem to trust Harry's judgement. He'd have to talk to him about letting Flan see him, whenever he eventually showed up, "Haven't even spoken to him since before his incarceration so I'm not sure where he stands, I'm afraid."

"It's okay, Alaric is just frustratingly paranoid about Riddle and who sees him."

"I thought I felt my ears burning," a voice commented, the Minister's voice. Alaric Layton.

Harry jolted to his feet in an instant, noticing the Minister himself now idly leaning in the doorway with his arms folded and an amused smirk playing on his face, showing off his quite pointed teeth. His smile didn't quite reach his navy-blue eyes though, it seemed too tired to despite his attempts to mask it. He was maybe slightly taller than average and had a medium build, his light brown hair was cropped and he was unusually good-looking. Harry had never seen a wedding ring on his finger though, he dressed quite plainly but nonetheless in robes of good quality and he always had a clean, presentable look to him and a cool, commanding air. He didn't usually look tired though, that would make him look human. Then again, he did allegedly have some kind of unnamed chronic illness that kept him away half the time but Harry wasn't unconvinced it was just a lie he used to get time off. That was how little faith he had in him.

"Minister, I didn't expect you to be in today," Harry greeted him civilly, "Especially since its three in the morning and all."

"Didn't you catch the evening edition of the Prophet?" Alaric questioned and inclined his hand to the paper on Harry's desk, Harry's emerald eyes drifted to it and his mood darkened again as he recalled the news, "It's on the front page if you haven't had a glance yet. I've been dealing with that since the news hit, which was slightly sooner for me then the press. Countries to contact, a muggle counterpart to calm, et cetera, et cetera… Not things to postpone or pass on to others any rate, illness or no."

"What illness would that be?" Flan wondered curiously and Alaric gave him a cold smile.

"None of your business," Alaric stated calmly but firmly, the exact same response he'd once given Harry when he'd asked, "Anyway, the Shadows took Turkey much faster than they took Greece which is the smaller country. Greece was the first, the Shadow Master will have had more of an idea of what works better and faster plus the resources of the country he conquered to get through Turkey faster. The streamlining of the process will only continue, I don't think they'll wait as long before moving on to their next target. Considering what happened with Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, that may very well be us or they could stick with their kind of current vicinity. We don't know yet but still we must make preparations."

"If you're going to start hiring underage wizards as Aurors, I'm walking out that door," Harry stated seriously, thanks to him lowering the entry requirements there was an overabundance as it was.

"Don't be silly, I couldn't do that. I could_ lower_ the age wizards become adults though," Alaric started to say before raising his hand as if to stop himself, "But not my point or my plan at this stage."

"What is it then?"

"The Muggles are getting really worried, their population is larger than ours and they too are suffering. Trade routes are affected by these countries falling, their planes - big flying machines - can't travel over Greece or Turkey without never being heard from again. There's millions of muggles now at the mercy of the Shadows, assuming they've been shown enough mercy to not simply be culled but I don't think they are-"

"You don't?" Harry couldn't help but interrupt in surprise, "Voldemort wanted to kill them all."

"The Shadow Master's not Voldemort, he may not even be his son. I don't think he cares as much about blood purity and we know he has a werewolf army, muggles _can_ be werewolves too. It's just not as common because they don't tend to survive it as well and werewolves tend to seek magical blood – probably because of this. Like any race, the instinct is to not die out. They just continue the line different to most species – but I don't think the Shadows would care about that. They'll just care about turning as many weak-minded people as possible if they want this army to prosper."

"Weak-minded?"

"Fools who'd rather follow an alpha instead of their own initiative."

"Werewolves can't help it, its instinct to respond to the call of their own kind," Flan pointed out.

"There's a difference between responding to the call of their own kind and obeying everything their kind tell them to do," Alaric protested with a look of scorn, "Of course acting on primal werewolf behavior is bad since they desire spreading it and satisfying hunger but if they acted like the wolves they're supposed to be instead of sheep then it wouldn't have been so easy for Greyback and the Shadows to weaponize them as an army. I suppose it just goes to show that werewolves are still human after all, you know since most people are sheep."

"You know a lot about werewolves."

"I know a lot about a lot of things, my tutors were very thorough with my education," Alaric insisted defensively, unfolding his arms and striding over to them, "But we slipped off target slightly, my point was the Muggle Minister wanted to tell the British Army about magic to better prepare them to be able to fight. It's their country too and there are more of them than us, we'd do better to fight united rather than divided."

"And you agreed to that?" Harry wondered incredulously, "I'm all for cooperation but that's a lot of muggles to reveal magic to."

"I didn't agree to _that_," Alaric said with a patronizing roll of his eyes, "Honestly, what kind of fool do you take me for?"

"What did you agree to then?"

"Just a handful of them, an elite group to work with you in devising ways for muggles to combat wizards. Should the time come we're invaded, they can pass this stuff on to the rest of the muggle forces."

"And you want me to do it personally?" Harry wondered tiredly, he wasn't sure he had the time to undertake such a task although he did quite like the idea itself. Maybe Alaric wasn't entirely bad. He still didn't trust him though.

"Yes, I know you're not a Shadow and would do a good job. If they find out, they'll likely kill the muggles so its imperative the Shadows don't know."

"I have people I trust, Ron or Cel-"

"Not people I'm sure aren't Shadows though," Alaric interjected dismissively and Harry resisted the urge to throw an irrational accusing look at Flan, they'd argued recently over the possibility of his protege being a Shadow after all but he doubted Alaric knew or cared about that, "If you want to pass it on to someone else, _I_ need to approve them. Th-"

Alaric was cut off as an alarm started wailing, the one Harry had set up to alert him if a prison break was occurring in the cells. And there was only one prisoner in the cells at present. Riddle. Harry was on his feet in an instant, his wand already in his hand and his body in motion. He heard a scrambling of feet as Flan and Alaric hastened after him.

"Why is there an alarm?" Alaric demanded of him.

"Indicates a cell break," Harry answered for him.

"No, I mean why is there an alarm in the first place? You need authorization from _me_ to do these things and I was not informed."

"I got fed up waiting for you to return to ask when I felt it was necessary to today I thought to hell with it, I'll just put it up and if you don't approve then I can always take it down," Harry explained irritably, "But right now there are more pressing concerns like stopping the escape so with all due respect, this can wait so either go back to your office or draw your wand."

"My wand's already drawn," Alaric pointed out dryly and Harry spared a glance that confirmed it, Flan fumbled to draw his though and almost dropped it.

"You may have to use it, we don't know what the situation is."

"I know how to use a wand to defend myself."

"Should-Should I go back then?" Flan wondered worriedly as they reached the prison corridors.

Flan was poor with magic to the point of failing his OWLs after all and the last time Harry had tried to improve his defensive magic – he considered it potentially necessary considering he worked with Aurors and was privy to sensitive information – Flan had ended up somehow stunning himself. However considering the Ministry was mostly deserted due to the late hour, if anyone slipped or had slipped past then Flan could be a sitting duck. He may be better off just with him, Alaric was staying as well and he could be an even worse duelist.

"No, it's too late. Just stay behind me," Harry decided and shifted his gaze to Alaric who inclined his head as if in acceptance, seeming to be willing to let him take the lead here since he had the experience. He hoped so, the last thing he needed was an inexperienced back seat driver getting in the way, "Stay close to me both of you and keep your eyes peeled."

Harry strode in and closed the door behind him, sealing it behind and silencing the alarm so they'd be able to listen for signs of attackers and with any luck no one would be able to get in or out until he desired it. He crept down the dark, dimly lit corridor cautiously with Alaric on his right and Flan behind. After all, he had no way of knowing what he was up against, if Riddle had simply gotten loose or if someone was trying to break him out which meant they could be up against the Shadow Master's Soul Eaters or Varanian's Gray vigilantes.

A jet of light sprang out abruptly from around the next corner, Harry made to move his wand but Alaric must've heard something beforehand because he was already brandishing his and a shield sprang up to deflect it while Harry had the perfect opportunity to get an attack in instead but the attacker jumped back behind the wall before Harry's spell could strike with perfect accuracy the space his – or her – hand had just been.

"I am Harry Potter, Head Auror! Identify yourself and surrender yourself into my custody or I will do so with force," Harry called out.

In response, he saw a flick of a wrist as the hand stretched out again and this time Harry was the one to slam up a shield while Alaric had already fired a jet of white light. It caught the hand before it could disappear, cracking against the pink flesh with a sound like whip that caused the attacker to cry out in pain. It held his hand there while the wand went flying, Alaric jerked his wrist and the stream of white lurched, swinging violently back and dragging the attacker with it. He was smashed into the wall – Harry wasn't sure if that was done intentionally or just the impetus from being yanked back – before falling back onto the ground as the spell left him and Harry silenced him with a stunner.

"Not bad, Alaric," Harry admitted as he stepped forward to take a look at the man, feeling a disappointed pang to realize it was an Auror. Not one who was supposed to be guarding Riddle though. He supposed at least it meant one Shadow Auror down, he'd known there were traitors and it wasn't someone he knew well at least.

"I told you my tutors were thorough. Nice work also, Leebin," Alaric nodded before his tone turned sarcastic while Harry quickly blasted the man with a Patronus to ensure he wasn't being influenced by a Specter. He wasn't.

"I couldn't see him," Flan protested, sounding somewhere between defensive and ashamed while Harry quickly conjured bonds to bind the Auror for later.

"You don't need to see the attacker to put up a shield."

"I wasn't very good at Shield Charms."

"Well _try_," Alaric insisted and before Harry could reply, the sound of running footsteps breached their ears.

Harry spun to the direction of the sound, or the direction he thought it was coming from as they were at a particular fork and the cascading echo seemed to make it sound as if they were running all around. His choice proved to be correct as two more Aurors rounded the bend, twin jets of stunners shot from his and Alaric's wands towards them but one of them whipped up a shield while his companion shot a spell back.

"_Protego!_" Flan cried.

Instead of a shimmering shield, he only managed to produce a wispy disc that immediately dispersed into the air around them as a kind of mist that just made it hard to see. Alaric was forced to conjure a nonverbal shield instead as the fog didn't faze the spells and they'd have a hard time dodging it through the haze made worse by the poor light. Beyond, he heard the Aurors snickering at Flan's failed spell and the psychologist's face reddened with an expression of shame.

Harry took advantage of the fact that if they couldn't see, the others wouldn't be able to either and waved his wand over the ground. Beyond them it lurched as if he'd shaken out a carpet, hearing their laughter turn to cries of surprise and thuds as they were knocked to the ground. He and Alaric fired blindly into the fold once more, firing in rapid succession in the hopes of hitting one of them but it was impossible to see and he could hear spells colliding with shields with the scraping of stone indicating someone was fighting to get to their feet.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Flan added, shooting his own attempt to disarm them into the fog.

"Don't say the spells out loud, they'll hear you and it'll give away our position!" Alaric hissed at him irritably, causing Flan to look even more ashamed.

"But I can't-"

"Either try it or shut up!"

Alaric sliced his wand through the air, dispelling the fog to reveal one had fallen while another was still defending himself but not managing much else considering he was being rapidly fired at and couldn't see to dodge, forcing him to use Shield Charms. Harry wasn't surprised, the one still standing was one of his superior fighters but nonetheless he was sure he could best him. Even if they didn't outnumber him three to one now. Or two and a bit to one since Flan lacked his father's good dueling ability… or any dueling ability really.

Flan apparently thought to try though, out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of light from Flan's wand but it burst backwards in the wrong direction. Harry couldn't help but turn as Flan was thrown backwards by his own spell, colliding painfully with the wall behind them and crumpling to the ground with his wand flying several feet away from him. Alaric had looked as well and a scampering of footsteps was heard at the Auror fled back the way he'd come, Harry made a move to check Flan was alright but Alaric's hand latched onto his arm.

"He's breathing, he's fine, let's not let this guy get away," Alaric insisted and Harry hesitated a moment, reluctant to leave his friend but also wanting to go after the traitor.

"Go," Flan agreed as he stirred, saving Harry the trouble of worrying.

Harry bolted with Alaric without wasting another a second, they rounded the bend and the Auror was still visibly fleeing. Alaric fired a stunner that the Auror dodged so Harry aimed for the ground again, turning the patch around the Auror to ice abruptly. Harry wasn't sure whether he tried to stop or turn but at any rate, the man failed as he instead slipped and fell. He managed to conjure a Shield Charm but it wasn't enough to repel three jets of red and he wasn't in any position to avoid them… Three jets?

Harry shifted his gaze to see his Teddy Lupin approaching from the other end of the corridor with his wand outstretched, Teddy was his godson and nephew-in-law since his marriage to Victoire Weasley. Teddy had chosen to follow in his mother's footsteps a few years out of Hogwarts and become an Auror, along with Victoire who was also an Auror now as well. Both were supposed to be guarding Riddle, he only had people he trusted guarding him and for good reason it seemed.

"Did you see two more on your way down?" Teddy questioned breathlessly, his expression anxious and his hair currently a neat black cut which he called his 'work hair' since he was a metamorphmagus and could change it at will, "They were trying to break Calderon out."

"Saw and stunned," Harry confirmed, resisting the urge to correct the name and Teddy nodded in understanding. Harry waved his wand and the Auror became bound while Teddy retrieved the man's fallen wand.

"That's all of them then."

"What happened, Teddy?"

"A group of Aurors came to us claiming you-" Teddy paused in his explanation to nod his head in Harry's direction, "-Wanted him in interrogation and we should hand him over to them so he could be escorted there while we went home, it seemed legit and they a written letter from you in your handwriting or at least a good forgery. Hal was suspicious though and insisted it was no trouble for him to go along just to make sure everything went alright since Calderon's such a high value prisoner, we agreed and then got suspicious when they tried to reject the idea. So they just attacked and tried to make a break for it, we managed to get Calderon back and those still standing fled when the alarm started up. No deaths and no serious injury on our side."

"Well this Hal just earned himself a promotion," Alaric mused thoughtfully as he scratched his chin, "How was Calderon about the abduction?"

"Seemed as surprised as we were, against it. He was pretty willing to get back into our custody not go with the… whatever team those guys were on."

"Shadows," Flan announced as rejoined them, rubbing the back of his head but seeming otherwise unscathed from his spell while the beautiful blond-haired Victoire walked in from Teddy's side, looking relieved to see her husband alright, "One of them has the Shadow Mark. Plus those three wouldn't have sided with Varanian and his vigilantes, Bronn especially."

"Yeah, he's wanted his blood since Varanian bested him dueling and evaded arrest," Teddy confirmed with a nod and Harry recalled this to be true.

"People lie," Alaric pointed out and Teddy threw him a thinly veiled dark look, he had not been fond of the law Alaric had introduced a few years ago about werewolves being forced to wear bracelets to identify them. The law was abolished now though and Alaric had even claimed to Scorpius Malfoy recently to be against it himself, Harry had no idea if it was the truth or not. Regardless, Teddy liked him even less than Harry did, "Maybe it was just an act."

"Not about this, Bronn's been here for years and he was very proud," Harry defended their deduction, "He was unforgiving and despised being bested, long before the Shadow War. I think it's likely they were Shadows."

"Well I guess we'll find out when they're interrogated," Alaric shrugged it off, "I think they are as well, Varanian's group is too new to have that many followers. If he had them in his pocket then he wouldn't have had to resort to using an underage boy to help break him out of confinement before, he also wouldn't have needed to forge a letter either since he could become Harry like he did once before to get Aurors to obey him. That would have aroused less suspicion. No, this was the Shadows, they planned on getting him but didn't account for the alarm or Hal's conviction."

"I agree. Teddy, Vic, could you gather the rest of you and secure these guys? Then do a sweep, make sure they were the only ones and get me a list of their names. I'll watch Riddle until then."

"Yes, I wanted to see him. Do it, Lupin," Alaric agreed and Harry scowled behind the Minster's back, he'd hoped he'd just go and leave Harry to deal with this the way he wanted. Teddy exchanged the same look with him as he passed by to obey, his hair flickering red in annoyance, "Come on then."

"Okay," Harry nodded and gestured for the out of place Flan to come along as he started leading three of them, he figured it was as good a time as any to get Flan to speak to Riddle. He noticed unconscious bound bodies as he walked, signs of dueling and the others on guard with Riddle securing them. He stayed alert, his wand still ready in case of more.

"So tell me, who exactly was on guard?"

"For Riddle?" Harry wondered, taken by surprise by the question but Alaric was looking quite serious about it, "Teddy and Victoire Lupin, Louis Weasley and Hal Davis who are in-training, Aitor Arkaitz, Borys Rurisk, Eudoxia Holt and Arturas Eklund, who is a Senior Auror. Why?"

"Because I now deem those people extremely unlikely to be Shadows, they're the ones to put your faith in. They're the _only_ ones allowed to guard Calderon now, do you understand?_ Just_ those eight and _no one_ else. You can also use one of them deal with the muggle training if you wish and are too busy to do it personally."

"I understand," Harry agreed through gritted teeth, not liking the patronizing tone. Besides, there were others he deemed trustworthy and their only crime had been to get the night off.

"You don't like me much, do you, Potter?" Alaric wondered, sounding more curious than anything else and taking him by surprise yet again. Harry debated how to phrase his answer in an as non-offensive way as possible, he may not like Alaric but being enemies with the Minister might make life more difficult for him and the Shadow War worse.

"I don't know you," Harry said finally, "So I find it hard to trust you."

"Fair enough, you never will know me either and you never should trust me, you should never trust _anyone_. Not completely. I'm not a Shadow though, you should trust that. We're on the same side."

Harry was spared having to consider a reply as they arrived at Riddle's cell, one of the larger, older and furthest in but still empty beyond a toilet and a small cot covered only by a threadbare blanket. Voldemort's son lay on the bed, Tom Riddle III, who had taken the alias Marius Calderon for many years as he'd wormed his way in to work in Hogwarts as an assistant. He couldn't help but feel a sting of bitter betrayal whenever he saw him, he'd deemed the lunatic trustworthy after all and while he had severe doubts the man was a Soul Eater, Riddle had still lied to him and called his judgment into question. Riddle was incredibly powerful, capable of doing mass wandless feats - which was a trait the Shadow Master shared - and the reason he was far too dangerous to be let out. Plus, he was _Voldemort's_ son.

Riddle didn't look especially threatening considering his parentage, he seemed to have taken after Voldemort's original appearance as Tom Riddle rather than the snakelike monstrosity he'd become. Harry supposed this made sense considering it was genetics, Voldemort had brought the later appearance on himself not been born that way. He was a handsome man like his father before him and his maternal Black line due to Bellatrix Lestrange being his mother, he was just forty and very pale with dark eyes and darker hair that was unkempt due to his time in captivity. He was dressed in dirty gray prison robes and been stripped of his usual possessions along with his magic, thanks to the help of a Power-Repressing potion they'd invented.

One side of his face was red and swelling as if he'd been hit extremely recently, probably during the break out attempt. His eyes were closed and aimed up at the dull ceiling, not seeming to notice or care for their entrance. Harry wondered vaguely how much of that was a side effect of the weakness caused by the potion he was on and how much grief, he'd been born a prisoner and was once again. According to Riddle, he'd been born to Bellatrix in Azkaban - hence why his existence was unknown as the Dementors were unwilling to lose an extra victim - and raised there until her escape which extended to him. Harry wasn't sure he believed that, although it fit with the timeline and might link to why he was notably unhinged. According to Riddle, the only reason he existed was Voldemort had decided an heir would make a good Horcrux, his son had been intended to be nothing more than a tool before his timely downfall. That, Harry believed.

"Hello Calderon," Alaric greeted him neutrally.

"Hey," Riddle offered, not sparing them a glance but his eyes flicked open still.

"What happened to your face?" Harry asked of him, not wanting his prisoners mistreated.

"An Auror was rough getting me back into my cell," Riddle shrugged tiredly and closed his eyes again, a far cry from the energetic, eccentric assistant he'd been until recently, "I wasn't trying to escape, I didn't know those people. I accept my fate, I was born to never be free."

"Well that's depressing," Flan commented mostly to himself and made to move closer to speak to him but Alaric stopped him.

"It's also irrelevant, as are you," Alaric pointed out, eying him disapprovingly while Harry did the same to the Minister. Harry supposed he was in that moment, he should've just sent him home when Alaric came in and said they'd continue their conversation tomorrow with hopefully not another country would be conquered to distract them. Nonetheless, Harry wasn't unsealing the door now until the sweep was done at the very least so the Minister would just have to live with it, "What matters is that we can't hold him here anymore, it's not safe. Now we know for sure the Shadows are after him, we know this and we also know they'll likely keep trying."

"There are safe houses we can send him too," Harry offered, "With those eight alternating as guards."

"No," Alaric said with a shake of his head, leaning back against the bars of Riddle's cell as he folded his arms, "The Shadows have access to Auror knowledge, anything that comes from the Ministry or is linked to us could be figured out too easily. We need somewhere _not_ like that, something that would be difficult to trace, maybe a muggle dwelling…"

"My uncle's farm," Flan blurted out immediately and sounding desperate to be of use, surprising them both, Alaric that he'd spoken and Harry as he knew Flan's only uncle was very much a wizard and not a farmer, "It's a muggle dwelling, been in my family for a while but no one's known enough about muggles to sell it so it's still owned but just not used. My uncle let my family stay there while our home was being rebuilt in Hogsmeade and said to use it as long as we needed because he doesn't use it at all, it's very much in a state of disuse and has been so for a long time, it's not hooked up to the Floo Network or anything. With some magic it could be salvageable as a safe house, it's in-"

"Don't tell us," Alaric interrupted, holding up his hand and for a split second Flan seemed disappointed his offer to help was being rejected but the Minister elaborated, "Don't tell anyone, the less who know its location the better."

"No," Harry protested, horrified at the idea of using Flan's farmhouse and wondering just how much of this was because Alaric had made him feel bad for his poor dueling skills, "You're not an Auror, he's not trained and he didn't sign up for this. Don't you realize if they found out that he'd be a target for the Shadows? You'd be in danger, Flan."

"And I'm not already?" Flan wondered, raising an eyebrow, "My home's been destroyed twice in two years, there's only so many times they can raze Hogsmeade before my family and I perish. I want to help, Harry, and it wouldn't be good if the Shadows got their hands on Calderon. Not for his own welfare or the world if he ends up joining them."

"Besides, you and I will be the _only_ ones who know Leebin here is the one providing the location," Alaric pointed out, "I've never revealed a secret in my life and unless you start telling people, he should be fine. They're likely to suspect regular Aurors with muggle holdings before they jump to a lousy Psych Healer. Plus, you're an Occlumens, right?"

"Yes."

"Even more perfect, they won't be able to easily acquire the information."

"There are other ways of acquiring information," Harry growled disapprovingly.

"Well if you get caught, stall and if we don't hear from in say… three days - since you usually take two on the full moon to care for your family - then we'll assume you've been compromised and move Calderon. Just stall them and it will be okay," Alaric assured him and Flan looked thankfully slightly more disconcerted at this thought, the Shadows weren't beyond torture or killing to achieve their ends.

"It will only be okay for _us_," Harry insisted.

"They own two countries to hide people in, a captive is likely a dead man so just try not get him killed by giving his name up and Calderon stays safe. You okay with that, Leebin?"

"Think of your family," Harry prompted and Flan looked a bit more uncertain now, much to Harry's relief while Alaric seemed annoyed he was trying to sway him. Harry did not want to put a civilian at risk, it wasn't right, "They need you alive."

"If you die from this, your family will be taken care of."

"They-They will?" Flan wondered, looking hopeful.

"Of course," Alaric said seriously and met the other man's eyes, he sounded sincere at least, "It would be the Ministry's fault, and they deserve compensation. If you die because of this, I give you my _word_ that your family will be financially stable for the rest of their lives."

"Okay, I'll do it," Flan agreed with a hefty sigh.

"Don't! You'll get yourself killed, there are more important things then money and you _know _what it's like to lose a father young. I'd give every last Knut of my family's wealth to have been raised by my parents," Harry pleaded desperately and Flan's expression wavered for a moment as he seemed to consider it, Harry should have stopped there, "This is a bad idea, an Auror should do it. I'm sure there's some with a muggle property and they're trained, they're prepared. It's their fight not yours."

"I'm prepared," Flan insisted, his expression switching immediately to one of determination and irritation, "And this war affects all of us. I want to help, I'm doing it regardless of the risks and the potential consequences."

"Yes, but let's hope it doesn't come to that," Alaric spoke up again, looking quite satisfied but his tiredness more prominent, "We'll set it up. And one more thing, Harry."

"What?" Harry complained.

"You can't tell anyone about this, not your wife, not Hermione, not even Cel Rooke or Ron Weasley."

"You can't be serious," Harry spluttered out, "They're trust-"

"No," Alaric interrupted with a note of finality as his deep, dark navy eyes met Harry's bright, shining emerald ones, "You are not allowed to tell them under _any_ circumstances, do you understand?"

Harry said nothing, he trusted them completely which was more than could be said for Alaric.

"They could still be Shadows or even just being forced to work for them, they are closest to you so it's not far-fetched the Shadows would think to use them. They are _not_ to be told, even the eight Aurors don't get to find out Leebin's identity. The less people know, the less chance this is compromised. And you're the one more invested in his life being spared anyway," Alaric elaborated his explanation, "You are not to tell them, do you hear me?"

"Fine," Harry agreed with severe reluctance, forcing the word from his mouth. It almost sounded like a betrayal of his oldest friends and protege to even suggest he may not trust them by agreeing to Alaric.

"Good."

* * *

**Part 2: **Leaders

* * *

Brutus Ashain stared out across the broken streets of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, which had been a thriving metropolis not too long ago. Now it was a wreck, the taller buildings had crumbled as if they were little more than towers of children's blocks and the majority of the smaller had collapsed in on themselves if not having been crushed by the taller. The streets were cracked, the ground itself ripped apart by the Shadow Master's power and littered by rubble from the destroyed buildings, spilling out over the pools of silver left behind by the metallic muggle vehicles that had been melted down. Overhead Specter-controlled dragons circled idly in the only recently cleared dawn sky, it looked like it had been stained by blood.

Brutus wasn't a victim of the attack though, he was on the side that had caused it. He was overseeing it all with his dark chestnut eyes, standing on the balcony on a central building that had been rebuilt magically to act as a temporary base for them. Despite being fifty years old now, his eyes remained as sharp as the hawk that was his Patronus. His extremely dark auburn hair remained thick and untouched by age, his burly muscular body still strong and his reflexes better than most younger men. He was in perfect health, except for the deformity he'd been born with. His six-fingered hands were all random lengths and twisted at the wrong angles, his face so grotesque people who didn't know him had trouble deciphering his expression or telling his age from it. And that was just what was visible.

"I don't understand, what am I looking at?" a child's unhappy voice commented, reminding Brutus he wasn't there to reflect alone, "Another Greek city we wrecked, so what?"

"Turkey. This is Turkey, not Greece," Brutus corrected and glanced at his much smaller companion.

Vathan was only four years old yet already hurt, he wore sleeveless robes due to the intense summer heat which revealed layers of random words of different sizes scarred into them through his wrists and his hands due to the blood quills his school used. It didn't hide the writhing skeletal snake symbols burned into both arms, the Shadow Mark their group used but Vathan's mother had inflicted on him without authorization. His hair dark with a slight wave to it and his eyes were a mossy green, sad eyes as he'd recently been orphaned and his half-brother abducted. He was Rabastan Lestrange's son, one of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants like Brutus was and someone he'd considered a friend. Brutus should have sent Vathan back to continue his training as they'd replaced the teachers who'd been killed recently by now, and yet… he hadn't. He felt like the boy was his responsibility now, he didn't want him to be sent back to that school. He could learn here, finding tutors wasn't difficult considering how many they ruled.

"Whatever," Vathan shrugged disinterestedly, still staring out from the steps Brutus had conjured to give him a better view over the balcony, "So why am I looking?"

"Because it's the job of leaders to oversee things, make sure the people beneath you are doing their job," Brutus explained to him.

"But I'm not a leader, am I?"

"Your father was one of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants and you're my ward now," Brutus told him seriously and gestured to the people below them, "You're above those people down there, they'd have to do what you say if you asked if they want me to let them live, you're a leader."

"Okay," Vathan nodded and sighed, "What job are they supposed to be doing then?"

While the city was in ruin, the streets weren't empty. Soul Eaters stormed them, leading clusters of newly imprisoned muggle slaves. They'd all been branded with a cross on their right cheeks to mark them as muggles, as slaves, and had already been divided by age and gender. Children would be raised to learn the history of their superior magical brethren and taught to be good slaves, the adults further divided for which tasks seemed better for them and anyone useless would be part of the werewolf army or die trying. Resistance – for adults – resulted in death, they didn't have time and there were plenty of muggles, millions in fact and the dead could be of use to. After all, he humans weren't the only things walking the streets, columns of horrific skeletal beings devoid of life also were being lead. Inferi. The bodies of those who hadn't survived the attack, reanimated on a mass scale by the Shadow Master and twistedly marching to join the rest of the army. Brutus didn't like them but they were useful. He felt his heart twist painfully whenever he saw a figure small enough to be a dead child, he had a soft spot for children. Unfortunately, even filthy muggle ones. There were millions of people in Ankara alone, he didn't want to think about how many had perished.

"Organizing," Brutus answered plainly before elaborating, "Slaves are being led to the left and Inferi to the right."

"And this is the better world? Full of dead people and slaves?" Vathan questioned neutrally and Brutus nodded, although it didn't sound too good when he put like that.

"They're just muggles and we need the Inferi to get what we want. For us wizards, it's better. It doesn't seem like it now because it's still in progress but when it's done, you'll see."

"Br-Brutus," Vathan stammered out abruptly, his face draining of color as he turned to him as if he'd just thought of something horrific, "You don't… You don't think that… that th-they m-made m-my Daddy and Mummy l-like that?"

"No. Our enemies wouldn't resort to that," Brutus assured him and the child nodded in relief, turning back and relaxing.

"Good," Vathan confirmed and looked thoughtful, "I'm glad they didn't but from a strategy view, it's letting the corpses of your enemies go to waste. No wonder we're going to win this war."

"You think we'll win?" Brutus mused and Vathan turned back to him, his expression deathly serious and looking just like his father for a minute.

"My parents died for this war. We're going to win, they can't have died for no reason," Vathan told him in a strictly serious tone but his eyes started tearing up, "I can't have lost everything for nothing."

"We'll win," Brutus affirmed and rubbed Vathan's shoulder comfortingly, the boy gave a weak smile that faded an instant later as tears continued to flicker in his eyes.

"Do… Do you have any news about Oathan?"

"No," Brutus admitted and Vathan looked disheartened, Oathan was his missing half-brother. One of their own had killed the staff of the Training Tower school and taken the boy- apparently his son – for reasons unknown.

"Do you think Oathan is even still alive? For real alive not like a Inferi."

"Of course he is," Brutus said with confidence but Vathan looked down, seemingly unconvinced and Brutus raised his head so their eyes met, "Look at me. If Florian wanted him to die then he would have killed him with the others but he didn't, he wouldn't have taken him if he didn't want him alive. We'll get Oathan back, okay? I promise."

"Okay," Vathan nodded, looking more reassured and managed a weak smile, "Thank Brutus."

"Okay, let's get you back inside. Everything seems to be in order," Brutus offered, clapping the boy on the back before they headed back inside the sliding glass doors.

He truly did intend to keep his promise. Florian was a liability and the boy innocent, Brutus had a soft spot for half-brothers and very much knew what it was like to have one missing. Soul Eaters hunted Florian daily with strict instructions – and the threat of death – if they did not retrieve the child alive. Florian had proved himself to be a talented duelist but Brutus was confident they could capture him, if it came to it than they could just overwhelm him with numbers. There was only so much one man could do before tiring. Really, Brutus felt it should only be a matter of time. Unfortunately, time wasn't moving fast enough.

He sent Vathan back to his tutor to continue his magical education – without blood quills – before wandering through the compound in search of his children or his lover to ask for news, heading to the nursery room. He heard them before he saw them, laughing innocently like normal children. It brought a smile to his face. He entered the nursery, which was looking quite plain considering they had only recently moved in but there were still two cribs and baby toys littering the soft, thick white carpet. There was also a couch, this was where his children were and his lover: Salazia "Sal" Riddle, or The Shadow Master as the rest of the world knew her.

Sal didn't look like the monster they thought was trying to take over the world, she didn't even look threatening. Brutus looked more evil then she did. She was ten years his junior and still very beautiful, flawless ivory skin contrasted with night black hair that hung in waves and matched her dark eyes. She was no longer emaciated as she'd been as a child with her upbringing in Azkaban but retained a slender frame, even after motherhood. She was lying on her back on the couch, her head propped on the arm and her knees bent. Their two bundles of joy were sitting on her, leaning back against the bent legs. She was amusing them by making motions with her hands, conjuring a dazzling display of lights before their eyes.

Brutus kept his smile as he leaned against the wall, watching his family happily. This was what he wanted, just his family happy and at peace. This was the Sal he liked, the kindhearted woman with a soft spot for animals who loved him and adored their children. Not the ruthless Shadow Master who destroyed cities, killed thousands and enslaved millions, intent on world domination. He just wanted peace.

"Master, I've finished running the twins their bath," a slave commented in accented English as she shuffled back into the room from another door, a middle-aged muggle marked by the cross on her cheek.

"Well Meryem, you've shown yourself to be a capable nanny so far," Sal commented thoughtfully, slowing the light-show, "All that really remains is that you answer one question."

"Yes, Master. Anything you desire."

"Tell me, which of the twins is your favorite?"

"My-My favorite?" Meryem repeated in surprise as Sal's sharp and very dark eyes darted to her in wait, the slave seemed to struggle with the question before stammering out an answer, "Well… erm… I don't really… err… I guess… um… L-Lazarus?"

"No," Sal stated and flicked her wrist as she turned back to the infants, fire erupted on the woman. She staggered back, screaming in agony as she was burned alive by magical flames, "The correct answer is none, you need to favor them _equally_. They're both perfect, they will never have to feel inferior even to each other."

Sal seemed oblivious to the woman she was letting burn alive, Meryem was still screaming as the skin was incinerated around her and the stench of her own flesh burning polluted the air. The one year old twins tried to look to the source of the sound but Sal reached out and took each of their little hands, keeping their attention on her as she smiled at them lovingly. She didn't take the flames off Meryem until a charred corpse collapsed onto the ground in place of… whoever she had been. The body then pulled itself up brokenly, dragging its body to the exit to presumably go join the rest of the Inferi.

"That's right," Sal cooed at the babies as Brutus made his approach, noticing for the first time the ancient Scepter lying on the ground beside her, "You're _both_ perfect, you're _both_ special, you're _both _loved. You never have to feel like you're not."

The babies gurgled at this, at just a year old they weren't capable of real speech yet or even comprehending her words. They were both perfect though, devoid of the deformities Brutus had feared passing on. Not because he wouldn't love them – like his own bitch of a mother had done, abandoning him at birth – but just because he didn't want them to have to endure what he had with the stares, the comments, the insults. Although he supposed it wouldn't matter, if Sal brutally murdered a woman for picking a favorite then he dreaded to think what she'd do to whoever was dumb enough to be mean to them and if on the off chance she did nothing, Brutus would. They clearly took after in looks, they were also both pale with dark eyes. The firstborn, Lazarus, had inherited Brutus' Ashain extremely dark auburn hair though while the younger Omega had hair as pitch as his mother's. Sal leaned forward and kissed each on the forehead before noticing his arrival as the twins called out 'Dada' happily, it never ceased to make him smile and Sal grinned at him too.

"Hey," Sal greeted him happily and reached out to give his hand a squeeze, she retained a love of holding his hand even still. He planted a kiss on her lips before ruffling the babies' hair, "Guess what I learned today?"

"That you shouldn't incinerate slaves?" Brutus guessed in a joking tone to hide the fact he was serious. Slaves or not, growing up with his Grandfather's treatment of house-elves left him feeling they had some responsibility to treat even slaves with some respect. She could have given her a quick death at least.

"No," Sal brushed it off dismissively, looking quite proud, "The twins are Parselmouths too."

* * *

Pyrrhus Florian had long since squashed any hope of leaving the Soul Eaters because he knew they'd never let him leave, if he left he'd be hunted and it wouldn't be fun. Now, he realized that he'd been right. Celestine Rooke - the high ranking Shadow Auror - was making good use of his position to send both Soul Eaters and Aurors after him. He'd had too many close calls in too few months for his liking, even when things seemed calm he was forced to stay alert to the point he knew he was being paranoid but he couldn't help it. He had his three and half year old son with him, Oathan Loren, who he had to keep safe.

He'd been teaching the boy to defend himself, getting him a wand, a knife and a gun – easy to mistake for a toy by wizards ignorant to muggle things – and training him to use all of them, as well as wandless magic. He didn't want Oathan to have to fight but he also accepted the risk to his life, if he died then Oathan needed to know how to protect himself. He'd used some frowned upon potions to improve the childish motor skills and made sure to impress upon the importance of it all, that was surprisingly not so hard but then he had been in a strict and cruel training to become a child-soldier prior to Pyrrhus saving him. Pyrrhus wasn't cruel in his methods of teaching though, he'd taught at Hogwarts for a time and found with children his suspicions of positive reinforcement, patient support and trying to make it fun worked just as well as negative reinforcement, brutal punishment and banning fun.

He had taken to Imperising muggles for the sake of teaching though, using them for more realistic scenarios of attack and showing Oathan the best places to hurt. He told Oathan they were simply puppets – which they kind of were, he regretted their lives were lost but all people were evil so it wasn't that bad – so he wouldn't hesitate to hurt or kill, it would better prepare him for if – who was he kidding? – _when_ he'd need to use it in a real attack. Oathan responded well, he'd been starved of affection from everyone but his maternal half-brother and treated horribly at the urging of his now deceased mother who had it out for him. Pyrrhus encouraged him to have a normal childhood too, letting him have toys and games, watch TV and time for play as well. It was incredibly rewarding helping rebuild his poor child's confidence, if only he'd known about his son sooner but alas, those were not the cards.

They were always on the move across the UK, staying in hotels, muggle homes, abandoned buildings or even in the various cars he traveled in as he considered it safer to travel in a mixture of ways and in a variety of places to throw off trackers. He had to move anyway, he was scouring the country for as much information he could find to help him in his plans to end the war and allow he and Oathan to live in peace. He barely slept for fear of being caught, scraping just a few hours every few days because his paranoia kept him up to keep watch at night and then during the day, he was loathe to waste previous seconds of light on sleeping. As a result, he was more high-strung than usual and his violently violet colored eyes had a constant – and uncomfortable – gritty, stinging feeling in them. What really worried him were the increase in flashbacks, his exhaustion often blurred the lines more between past and present, once he'd even accidentally killed a muggle fighting a memory. He made sure Oathan got a full eleven and half – he'd researched it as the average amount of time a child his age needed – a night, barring unforeseen events stopping it anyway such as an attack or Oathan waking from a nightmare. Oathan was the important one.

However, that night he was forced to leave his sleeping son. One of his nephews, Carver, was aiding him in his plans, as well as avoiding Soul Eaters and working as a kind of double agent. Frustratingly though, he had decided to make his aid conditional as part of the plan involved the deaths or harm and possible deaths – at the very least – and insisted he make sure there was literally no other way. He'd previously tried to strike a deal with the Head Auror, Harry Potter, for immunity and protection in exchange for information but they'd rudely tried to murder him which he had taken to mean 'no.' Carver wanted to make sure that option was definitely off the table, he insisted he go over Potter's Head to try see if there was any chance at all for a deal still. And so, Pyrrhus found himself at the elusive Minister for Magic's late one night while his son slept soundly miles away under a shitload of protective enchantments. Nonetheless, he wanted to get back and be there to protect his son.

Pyrrhus was an animagus and took the form of a moth, fluttering toward the house and bypassing the unusual amount of protection the Minster had elected to put around his home. It was an isolated place, several miles from the nearest town. There were no other magical homes and he'd say it was a muggle area but there were no muggle homes around either, just fields and woodland which belonged to no one. Really, he thought everyone put too much emphasis on wizards and muggles, they were all just people at the end of the day. The house wasn't a mansion but it wasn't a poor hovel either, maybe what a more upper class but no means excessively rich family would have. Despite the acres of land around it – which he wasn't sure came with the Minister's property or not – there was no garden, something he approved of. His father had been a gardener, souring his opinion of all things related to that.

He fluttered about, starting to look for an open window before realizing there was no need. The Minister had a set of double doors generously open despite the late hour, Pyrrhus knew it was summer but it still wasn't exactly a warm night. Not enough for double doors to be open by any means. Nonetheless, he flew in and found himself in a living room area although the fireplace – assuming he had one – wasn't there, maybe the kitchen. There was a massive couch and some more regular armchairs, an end table and a book shelf pretty much the length of the wall. Alaric Zyas Layton sat in one of the armchairs wearing nothing but a crimson bathrobe, looking ready to fall asleep in it as he sipped from a glass of some kind of spirits.

He didn't seem to have noticed Pyrrhus' arrival and so he decided to take a second to scour the house for some key to the Minister's personality, something to gauge how to approach him maybe or even just what kind of man he was dealing with. Not much was known about him after all. Pyrrhus found the search of the man's home surprisingly fruitless, it was very empty. There was an appropriate amount of furniture and there were things you would need, the bare necessities, it wasn't vacant although it was very spacious but… it was empty. There were no photographs at all, no portraits, no pictures at all, no tapestries, no ornaments, no decorations really, even the book covers were all blank to conceal the titles. There was nothing that expressed anything about himself or his personality or his likes, nothing meaningful at all. It was very neat too, nothing out of place but not to an extreme degree as if he was focused on cleanliness, rather just as if he liked to keep everything presentable in case he had company. Despite the fact, by all the accounts having guests over wasn't a regular occurrence and he lived alone so it had to be Alaric's choice.

Pyrrhus took this to mean one of several things; either Alaric was that bland in which case he was likely a puppet Minister for someone else, he was afraid to because he had some kind of dark or disturbing secret – something that was _wrong_ at any rate – he was paranoid about others seeing, or he simply had been raised in a repressing environment where he'd been taught not to or not been allowed to express himself. Pyrrhus flew back to the initial siting room, perching himself on the curtain to study the Minister one last time. He was still sitting in the armchair, resting his head on one hand while the other swirled his drink, his wand and a bottle of Firewhiskey on the table beside him. Deciding now was as a good a time as any, Pyrrhus swooped down and transformed back into his human form. He had a slender frame, was clean-shaven, in his late twenties and had a long, tangled mane of fiery red hair. Alaric's navy-blue eyes drifted to him in surprise but quickly calmed, watching him with interest and making no move for his wand.

"Not even going to try to defend yourself?" Pyrrhus couldn't help but question in bemusement as he aimed his wand at the Minister, "Most people react differently when a stranger breaks into their home."

"What's the point?" Alaric countered with a shrug, his voice sounding as tired as he looked, "If you wanted me dead then I'd be dead, I'm too weak to be fast right now because of my condition so I wouldn't stand a chance. I'm guessing you want something instead."

"I want the same thing I wanted from Potter. Immunity and protection, I'll give you information in return. He tried to kill me but you could go over his head," Pyrrhus decided to cut straight to the chase, grinning as it occurred to him that he also had a bargaining chip here that he hadn't had with Potter as he added, "And I'd seriously consider it if you want to live!"

"Really?" Alaric wondered before stunning Pyrrhus as he burst into laughter, genuine amused laughter. Pyrrhus scowled as the Minister wiped a tear from his eye and sobered, drinking the last of his alcohol as if he had all the time in the world and placing it on the table beside his wand. Alaric was the one smiling now, strangely completely confident, "Really? You think you can threaten _me_? On this night of all nights? _Nothing_ can threaten me tonight."

Pyrrhus felt even more confused by this, he opened his mouth to reiterate his threat and demand to know what he was talking about. He was distracted though as Alaric looked to the open doors as if expecting someone or something, Pyrrhus glanced too but saw nothing but the dark night and the shimmering full moon- Wait… He looked back to Alaric in panic, seeing the Minister was already turning.

The Minister of Magic was a _werewolf._ Crap.

Pyrrhus wasted no time, transforming back into a moth to flee. This proved to be grievous error on his part though as Alaric lunged for him with a snarl, he felt wolfish jaws snap around him painfully and heard a sickening crack. If he was capable of screaming as a moth, he would have. Alaric threw him back down roughly and Pyrrhus tried to fly again but the werewolf smacked him back down with his paw, he felt sharp claws slicing through his left wing and saw stars as he was smashed to the ground yet again. This time, Alaric kept his paw firmly in place to keep him pinned down. Pyrrhus tried to squirm free but the rush of pain was overwhelming as it only further tore through his fragile wing and he feared further attempts to free himself in case it was ripped off completely.

Pyrrhus flicked his tiny, hate-filled eyes to the Minister. He had never been in such close proximity to a transformed werewolf before, he looked like a regular wolf pretty much with the same gleaming eyes and a brown pelt except for the fact he was larger. Made even worse by the fact he was a freaking _moth_. Now the open doors made sense, it was so he could leave at will and the isolation made it unlikely anyone would see. Maybe he was even paranoid enough to stay outside and sneak back in only just before he needed to revert back or just if he wanted to stretch his wolfish legs. Of course, he couldn't ask him. He was a moth and Alaric was a werewolf, they had no way to communicate until they were humans again.

Alaric seemed to realize this too and settled himself down, lying much like a dog would and keeping his paw firmly set to keep Pyrrhus down. He rested his head down beside him, letting his tongue loll out over a row of sharp teeth. Pyrrhus got the impression it was either an amused or triumphant grin, he could only glare hopelessly back and wait for the sun to rise or Alaric to move his paw. He supposed in a way it was good he was trapped as a moth, if he was man then he was sure he would be bleeding out and he of course couldn't be turned. However, it didn't ease the immense pain he was in. Not even slightly.

It was one of the longest nights of his life, Pyrrhus wasn't sure if he remained conscious the entire time or not but whatever the case the large yellow eyes didn't look away. The dawn was his best chance to escape, Alaric would have to get off him to turn back and would hopefully be distracted by his transformation long enough for Pyrrhus to get away. He had to get away, he had to get back to Oathan. Time dragged by agonizingly slowly though, he could do nothing but wait. And think. Worrying about his son and plotting his revenge against Alaric, the bastard Minister would pay for this. Screw deals, screw Alaric! The only way he was telling Alaric anything was if it was as he slowly tortured him to death. Carver would just have to live with it, he had technically _tried_ to make an alliance before being viciously attacked. Why were people from the Ministry so rude? He was the one being civil here.

Finally, the tendrils of light started to creep in and it was Alaric's turn to be in pain. He removed his paw, howling in agony and staggering back as his body started to change. Pyrrhus didn't even spare him a glance though, focusing instead of dragging his battered body back up and forcing his broken wing to fly towards the open doors. Fresh waves of pain shot through him with every flap and his trajectory veered terribly, however he was making progress…

_BANG!_

Pyrrhus felt himself struck by a spell, his body was forced to revert back to a human as he fell out of the sky and collided painfully with the solid ground of flagged stone of all things. He cried out in pain and regretted it as it made his chest burn, the bite had broken most to all of his ribs and his hip was in agony as well. His left side was the worse though, his arm and shoulder were torn up where his wing had been and the arm itself was uselessly hanging, half-severed and bleeding mercilessly. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping against the pain and for a second his mind threatened to pass out but he stayed focused and noticed some kind of magically barrier being set up around him.

"Not so fast," Alaric insisted breathlessly but nonetheless sounding pleased, Pyrrhus spotted him from over the half-white wall that faded at about waist height. He was smirking while Pyrrhus' own expression twisted into a sneer to mask his rush of fear as he realized something, he was alone with a man and completely at his mercy. He didn't like being alone with men, it scared him.

"So you're a werewolf, huh?!" Pyrrhus spat, his chest pleading him not to but he ignored it, not wanting to show his fear, "Let me guess, Hogsmeade?"

There had been an attack on Hogsmeade two years ago, Fenrir Greyback leading an army of werewolves for the Shadow Master as part of a plan to take Hogwarts, a plan Pyrrhus had actually been involved in. Plenty of people had been turned but Alaric laughed again as if it was a stupid suggestion, shaking his head and retrieving the discarded crimson bathrobe to pull back on. Not before Pyrrhus noticed the scars though, an unmistakable werewolf bite on his right shoulder and some scars from mauling across his chest, marring his otherwise fit physique.

"Back in the Second Wizarding War, Voldemort used to sic Greyback on the children of people who didn't do what he wanted," Alaric explained, still somewhat breathless as he sat back down on the armchair he'd been in when Pyrrhus had first arrived. He placed his wand back down shakily and poured a glass of Firewhiskey, "I've been like this since I was five when my Father didn't do whatever had been asked of him."

"Fathers suck," Pyrrhus couldn't help but complain and Alaric inclined his head in agreement before sipping his glass.

"And I got off lucky, my sister died. I was delighted to hear Greyback was killed, when that Sanford kid graduates he can have his pick of job and be set for life."

"How'd your parents manage to keep it a secret?" Pyrrhus wondered with morbid curiosity.

"By pretending my sister had been the one and only victim, they hired a private healer to treat me and paid extra to keep his mouth shut. They kept me isolated, I was only allowed to interact with family and tutors whose silence they could ensure because they had this paranoid fear I would tell people for no reason. No Hogwarts, no Quidditch games, no shops, a trip out meant the garden and on the rare occasion there had to be guests over, I'd be silenced and locked up in the basement. It was their greatest fear that they might have to live with the shame of having a werewolf for a son, despite the Ministry reformation and it becoming more acceptable."

"Yet you still keep a secret."

"What can I say? Old habits die hard," Alaric shrugged as he finished his drink and put the empty glass back down, resting his head back sleepily, "It's pretty easy really, as long as you spend a good chunk of the month off that's not around the full moon, people don't get suspicious. People are stupid. Avoid pools, the beach and anywhere else where you might be expected to be shirtless, boil during the summer, only date muggles who wouldn't understand the significance of the scars and don't be openly pro-werewolf to avoid suspicion. I make my own Wolfsbane so I don't even need to alert to the Ministry to my condition."

"Well bully for you," Pyrrhus spat and started to cough, spluttering out blood much to his alarm. He really needed to get away or at least get medical attention, "Okay. You can… You can get me help now."

"Help?"

"I need healing!" Pyrrhus shrieked at him as the man's eyes flickered closed a moment, had he really not noticed?! Alaric smiled again, tiredly. How weak were werewolves after the full moon? Was he actually at risk of dying because the Minister fell asleep?

"I know, I'm just trying to think a good cover story to explain your injures and wondering whether it's worth the risk of the truth being discovered."

"You can't be serious!?" Pyrrhus spluttered out along with more droplets of blood, "You'd let me die to protect your secret?! My information is important! Werewolves aren't even hated as much!"

"_I'm_ _the_ _Minister_ _for_ _Magic_," Alaric emphasized each word slowly, his expression wiping to one of seriousness, "People hold you to higher standards and werewolves aren't so popular after Hogsmeade anyway. If my condition was discovered then there'd be outrage, I'd probably lose my job and some idiot or a Shadow would replace me."

"There'd also be support! Potter's lot would all be pro-werewolf."

"It's not the point," Alaric snapped with a look of disgust, "I don't want this whole thing to turn in a werewolf-support war, all everyone will care about is that I'm a werewolf. Which is just ridiculous in itself, a werewolf is _what_ I am not _who_ I am and it's stupid to judge people based on it. But then, people _are_ stupid. If I'm not fired then I'd have to step down so people will stay focused on fighting the Shadows not each other, if I stay then I risk inciting a civil war. I want to end a war not start one. So I suggest you tell me what you know so I can gauge if your life is worth it, as you put it: I'd seriously consider it if you want to live!"

"What? So you get the information and I still die?" Pyrrhus scoffed, still have no intention of telling him anything, "Go screw yourself! Help me or I tell you nothing and this stuff _is_ important."

"Is it really?" Alaric wondered, raising an eyebrow, "You claim to know the Shadow Master's identity. I'm guessing its Calderon's sibling, possibly even a twin named something Riddle. Not so groundbreaking now, is it?"

"Still wouldn't recognize them if they walked right up to you and punched you in the face, genius," Pyrrhus stated acidly as he decided he'd have to make his own escape, shifting his attention to the wand Alaric had left on the table and focusing.

"And the highest ranking Shadow Auror is either Cel Rooke or Ron Weasley, am I right?" Alaric asked curiously, not noticing his wand slowly and silently turning on the table to face him, " I figure that's the only or at least most likely way they have the control necessary to get pulling these things off, Potter trusts them completely which doesn't help."

"One of them is perfectly innocent though, good look figuring out who and getting Potter to believe you without my help."

Alaric opened his mouth but was silenced as the stunner shot from his wand, hitting him square in the chest and the werewolf finally slumped unconsciously into the chair. Pyrrhus' head lolled from the effort again as he coughed up blood, he dragged his mind back to focus as the wand floated into the air and removed the enchantment around him.

He struggled to get to his feet and collapsed once more, his – now certainly – broken hip unable to hold his weight. He bit his tongue so hard he drew blood against the incredible pain, why did life have to hurt so much? What had he ever done to life?! Why was life so mean to him?! It wasn't fair! He transformed back into a moth, quelling the blood flow at least and awkwardly – falling several times – flew out of the house and out of bounds of the anti-apparation wards. He then turned back and apparated, returning to the hotel room he'd left his son and staggering in before his legs gave way again.

"Daddy! Are you okayed?" Oathan's young, childish voice cried and he appeared a second later at his elbow.

Despite the agonizing pain, he smiled warmly at his son. Oathan had his mother's soft features but Pyrrhus' own violet eyes and crimson locks, except his hair was only neck length and had a slight wave to it like his mother's had, he also had bandages covering his palms and wrists to hide the blood quill scars the school had forced him to inflict upon himself. Just like those bastards had done to Pyrrhus, he didn't regret killing them. Except maybe his brother but that was just because he was his brother. Nothing could hide the scars on Oathan's face though, one horizontal just under his left eye and onto that side of his face and one vertical running through it at the edge of the eye so looked like a kind of cross. His mother had given him those scars, Alzay had been an abysmally poor mother. He gripped his son's frightened hand, feeling relief it would be alright.

"Close the door, bring me the first aid kit and summon Carver," Pyrrhus told him plainly, his ribs burning again from his speaking, "I'll be alright then, I promise. Tell Carver we'll get nowhere with the Minister, my plan is the only way."

* * *

**Part 3: **Summer Birthdays

* * *

It was cold. Of course it was cold, it was always cold if you were Antonius Ashain. Despite the fact he was lying in a nice bed with thick, soft blankets to keep him warm. He had long since realized it was because he wasn't cold physically, it was his soul that was cold. What was left of it anyway, three years ago he'd had his magic ripped from it and while it had been put back, he hadn't been the same since. He'd died that day, the old Antonius, the one his mother called 'Tony' and yet somehow he was still... _around_ to have his tenth birthday. It didn't mean he was alive because he wasn't, not really.

People wouldn't believe him if he told them of course, they'd tell him that he was wrong, that he was being ridiculous, that he was just too young to understand or know what he was saying, that it was just a phase he'd get out of. Those were the kind of things his mother – Skye - had told him. Before she left anyway. Of course she'd left, she wanted her dead son back not whatever he was now. And that was why when people asked, he didn't tell them. He didn't want them to leave him too. He lived for the people he loved, he couldn't live for himself since he was dead already so he would be nothing without them. So he told no one, no one but Hope anyway. Hope was special like that, mostly because she was a dog. As if on cue the monstrous lump of fur gave a bark and licked his face from the neck up to his eyeball with her large, cold and slobbery tongue. That was what he got for sitting up.

"Thanks for that," Antonius complained of his dog, she merely wagged her tail and watched him with her tongue lolling out.

She was a huge dog, he'd only just surpassed her at height and he considered himself pretty average for his age. He had no idea what breed she was, just a big, dark lump of fur with large paws attached to the long spindly trunks she had for legs. In truth she wasn't even his, he'd been leant her to help him with his damaged soul. With a sad pang he wondered if she'd ever be returned to her original owner considering he'd been arrested, they'd showed no signs of letting him go so far. Calderon may be Voldemort's son but Antonius didn't believe he was the Shadow Master, he'd met them both and was quite certain they were different. Besides, he'd also seen them fighting each other and he wasn't sure why but he knew the struggle had been real. Not that it mattered what he believed, it didn't even matter what his Father – who felt the same – believed and he was more important than Antonius was.

He reached out to stroke her soft fur, taking a sliver of comfort from it. Touch was the only thing that made him feel connected to the world again, made him feel on some level he existed. The feeling had weakened rather than strengthened with time though, over the past year in fact. He felt the lightning bolt scar on his chest twinge and gasped at the agony but it passed in a second as it always did, he took a deep breath and cuddled Hope tightly. A year ago the Shadow Master had tried to kill him, directly with the Killing Curse but he'd survived. For a different reason to the famous Harry Potter though. Antonius thought it just further proved that he was dead, it couldn't kill him because he wasn't really alive anymore. The scar still hurt sometimes, the scar on his soul not his body though. Not that he told anyone, he didn't want them to leave like his mother had. He was scared of being alone.

"Happy Birthday!" his sister, Cassia, squealed happily and he turned to see her bounding across his small room, bouncing onto his bed to pull him into a hug. Yep, he shouldn't have sat up.

He hugged her tightly back, he loved his little sister dearly. Since their mother had left, they lived solely with their father in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their father homeschooled them so they didn't get to interact with kids their own age much or at all really, all they really had was each other. There were students they were friends with but they were busy with their classes and lives most of the time, Antonius hoped when he started Hogwarts next year that he could hang out with them more. They'd be gone by the time Cassia started though, she was only eight and their friends would be in Fifth and Sixth Year already come September.

"We've been waiting for you to wake up, you shouldn't sleep in on your own birthday," Cassia chided him as she pulled away, she had their father's dark chestnut eyes but their mother's straw-colored hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders. Or she had. Unlike him, she was furious at their mother for leaving and refused to have hair that looked like her so now their father charmed it different colors for her. Currently, she was favoring a forest green that made it look kind of like someone had deposited a small clump of seaweed on her head.

"Sorry," Antonius apologized blandly. In truth he'd woken ages ago, he simply didn't want to face his birthday. He didn't like being the center of attention, he liked it even less when he was expected to be happy and if he didn't act correctly then everyone would be upset that he wasn't. He missed the days when social interaction was simple.

"Anyway, I wanted to give you your present first," Cassia told him with a grin as she jumped up, making a sharp sound like a bird call and her pet vulture immediately flew in. It dropped a shoddily wrapped package of mismatched paper on his lap before landing on the arm she offered out to him. His sister was an Avisora, she could talk to birds like Parselmouths could talk to snakes, "Well go on, open it."

"And this couldn't wait until the rest of the presents with Dad because…?" Antonius wondered as he tried to tear it as non-destructively as possible.

"It's a wand holster, the kind the Aurors use," Cassia explained as he found it to be a leather strappy thing, Aurors were guarding the school now since it had been attacked a few months ago, "Since you don't want Daddy to know you have a wand already, I reckoned that you wouldn't want him to see."

His eyes couldn't help but drift to where he hid his wand down the side of his bed, safely out of sight. It was part of the Scepter of Night that the Shadow Master used, the one that had once belonged to the infamous Dark Wizard Herpo the Foul, after that it had belonged to their own ancestor who had helped defeat him. Most people believed it to have been destroyed but it had chosen him despite his young age and he'd left with it, kept it safe. Only a few of his friends and now Cassia knew about it, he'd had to use it in front of when Hogwarts had been attacked. He'd been teaching himself to use it too, there was a war going on and their father did teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Being homeschooled, they sat through all his lessons just doing their own work instead. They still picked things up though.

"Well thank you, it's pretty neat. Even if I can't use it."

"Yes you can," Cassia told him with a smug smirk, "You see, its charmed so when there's a wand in it, only the wand's owner can see it. You can take your wand with you anywhere now and not have to worry about people spotting it."

"Really?" Antonius wondered in surprise, retrieving his overly long wand and clambering out of bed to strap it on before slipping the wand in, "Does it work? Can you see it?"

"Nope," Cassia confirmed, looking impressed and he gave her a small smile. That _would_ be useful, "You'll have to tell Daddy at some point though since next year you'll need a wand."

"I know," Antonius sighed, he still wasn't sure what he was going to do then, "But not today. Thank you, Cassia, this is a really great present."

"I know it," Cassia added with a wide grin and something else occurred to him.

"Cassia, how did you get this if Dad doesn't know?"

"Err… Stole it."

"Cassia!"

"What?!" Cassia protested defensively, "Those Aurors guarding Hogwarts are a bag of dicks, they can always get more anyways and you need it more than them assholes."

"Well... Just don't do it again."

"Oh no, my other brother who needs to keep his secret wand secret is going to be so disappointed!" Cassia cried sarcastically as she jumped off the bed, the hulking vulture flying off and she tore after it laughing, "Now come on! Daddy, he's awake!"

"You've been in Hogwarts too long!" Antonius called after her before heaving another sigh and heading out, Hope leaping of the bed to stay loyally by his side.

He left his small room into the main living area of his father's quarters, also small but the couches were quite comfortable and there were several doors leading off to get to the other bedrooms. His father apparently wasn't there though, he continued on and found his family was settled in his father's office from where their living quarters could be accessed with a password. There was a modest pile of presents – much more neatly wrapped then Cassia's – on his father's desk and a small stack of letters beside them, no doubt cards and there was a handmade – judging by Cassia's clunky lettering – banner hanging up reading 'Happy 10th Birthday Antonius!' in bright colors that kept changing.

His father, Atticus Ashain, was sitting at his desk already fully dressed in wizarding robes unlike his children who were still in their pajamas. He was of average height with the dark chestnut eyes like Cassia's and Antonius' own, his hair was an extremely dark auburn that Antonius had inherited as well but lacked the neat beard that went with it. Half of his face – and body for that matter – was also a slightly lightly color, the only sign of the injury he'd sustained a few months ago saving Calderon and he had faint scar on that side too. He thought his father had taken Calderon's arrest pretty hard since they'd been friends, he was steadfast in his belief of the man's innocence to the point of arguing with other Aurors about it.

"Happy birthday, son," his father offered with a warm smile and opened his arms, "Already a decade old."

Antonius went over and was pulled into a tight hug, he clung to his father. He may not be as close to him as Cassia but he loved him nonetheless and looked up to him, he didn't know what he'd do without him. Every birthday since Skye had left, he'd blown out the candles wishing his dad wouldn't leave him too. His father pulled away, still smiling and clapped him on the shoulder. Cassia had curled up on a seat on the other side of the desk, stroking the vulture perched on top of the chair but there was a chair more central beside her that was clearly intended for him. He sat down, for a brief moment feeling a flood of panic that he still had his wand before realizing the charm must be working as his father didn't say anything or react to it at all. He relaxed and his father tossed the stack of letters to him before settling back, picking up his drink to sip. Antonius was pretty sure it was called 'whiskey.'

"Go on, cards first," his father prompted when Antonius had continued to stare thoughtfully off into space while Hope lay down at his feet, "You're popular this year."

Antonius thought this was quite correct as he started going through the pile, most of the old Hogwarts staff had gotten him cards, most of his friends had – although Albus had spelled his name wrong, ironically the Dyslexic Michael hadn't – and then his family. A handmade one from his father, sister and the animals. He was surprised to discover his mother had sent him one too, a design of brightly colored balloons on the front and the price on the back that she'd forgotten to remove. It hadn't even cost her a pound. There were only six words inside it: 'To Tony, Happy Birthday, love Mum' and the 'Happy Birthday' had been printed on the card. She hadn't even gotten his name right, it was aimed at her old, dead child. Sadly, he traced over the wavy blue letters of her handwriting, it was all he had of her. He missed her, so much.

"Skye," Cassia stated darkly as she read the card over his shoulder before her tone became more cheerful, "Do you want me to throw it in the fire for you?"

"Cassia!" his father chided her immediately but she didn't even look slightly abashed.

"What? Screw Skye, she can go fuck herself."

"Cassia!"

"What?" Cassia wondered again, not seeming to even understand why he had objected.

"You don't talk about your mother like that," his father said seriously.

"Skye is not my mother, I don't have a mother," Cassia decided, folding her arms quite determinedly.

"Yes, you do," his father insisted, downing the rest of his glass, "I was there when you came out of her kicking and screaming so I know."

"So I was born fighting," Cassia stated with a grin, seemingly quite proud of this fact, "Cool."

"How was I born?" Antonius asked curiously and his father blinked in surprise.

"I wasn't there when you were born," his father admitted and Antonius couldn't help but feel somewhat hurt, it must've showed on his face because his father elaborated, "We were in a car crash on the way to the hospital and I got knocked out, when I woke up I was in the hospital. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was your mother sitting beside me, holding you in her arms."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Antonius said with a small smile that his father returned, nodding in agreement.

"Nah, I like the being born kicking and screaming better," Cassia pointed out proudly.

"Of course you do," his father laughed before peering over his shoulder to glance at the card as well, his expression was more serious as he leaned back in his seat once more and began to pour himself another drink, "At least her boyfriend didn't also sign it, stupid Karl from her work Karl. Okay, next card."

"Can we have some of that to drink?" Cassia asked as he sipped the alcohol, Antonius moved on to his next card which oddly looked like his mother's handwriting as well.

"Maybe in another decade."

"It's from Uncle Jasper," Antonius realized in surprise as he opened it, seeing it was from his mother's younger brother and his daughters. He hadn't seen his uncle in even longer than his mother, he'd divorced his aunt but had two daughters who were older than Antonius. His mother was closer to her brother then his father was to his since he was a Shadow and all, "Mum must've sent it for him, haven't heard from them in a while."

"We're not exactly easy for muggles to reach, I'm not sure how much he's been told of the magical world anyway."

"Uncle Jasper didn't send me a card for my birthday, I wonder wh- Oh never mind, I know," Cassia started to complain before seeming to realize, "He doesn't like me since I punched one of my cousins in the face with a brick."

"What?!" Antonius burst out in shock at the same time as his father, Cassia looked surprised.

"Don't you remember, Antonius? You were there," Cassia pointed out and Antonius shook his head, a side effect of having the magic torn from his soul was losing your memories and it took a while to recover them. Most of them anyway and they seemed less vivid then any memories after, almost like a dream, "It was after Skye found out about magic and sent Daddy away, Uncle Jasper was over with our cousins and they're bitches."

"Cassia," his father said warningly.

"What? They are," Cassia protested as if it were fact, "Skye told Uncle Jasper about magic but not them or their Aunt Jessica so they didn't know why, they were saying mean things that their stupid ass Mother was guessing what you did to make her mad and think you were sick. They were saying mean things like that you were cheater or a drinking problem and I was defending you, then Madison said you might have hurt us and I was so mad that I hit her. And she laughed and said that I was so little and weak, it didn't even hurt so... then a brick hit her in the face and she didn't think I was so little and weak anymore. She had to go to the hospital because it broke her jaw and Uncle Jasper and Aunt Jessica and Skye was all really mad at me, Skye sent me to my room which is just stupid because my toys are all there so I could play. And they didn't care that Madison had started it!"

"You don't need to break little girl's jaws to defend me, Cassia," his father told her gently and slightly worriedly.

"Madison wasn't little, she was nine! And it was a accident. Sort of. Antonius told the truth but Emma was a big fat liar and said Madison had done nothing, she said I just snapped like a psycho and Aunt Jessica believed her, said mean things about us and said we were the liars. And Skye agreed with her, Daddy! She told us we shouldn't tell lies and told Aunt Jessica she was sorry and we were sick. She was _always_ against us," Cassia continued angrily, sounding bitter and oddly disappointed as well, "Uncle Jasper was fairer, he just said it didn't matter and I'd still done a bad thing, he said if Madison had said mean things then she was wrong too but didn't deserve a broken jaw. Aunt Jessica didn't like us playing with our cousins after that, didn't even like Uncle Jasper still seeing us and Skye."

"Well thank you for filling us in, next card."

"But that's not even the worst of it," Cassia continued regardless and glanced at Antonius who continued to not remember, she seemed lost in the memory, "Skye was mad at you too, for lying and saying you weren't lying. You were so upset she didn't believe you when you were telling the truth, you tried so hard to be good for her, to be a good son and she was mad at you when you hadn't done anything wrong. You cried for hours in your room, I could hear you crying and crying and crying. All Skye does is hurt the people around her, she's like poison. Mothers shouldn't be like poison."

"Would you have believed us, Dad?" Antonius asked curiously, surprising his father yet again.

"I didn't raise you to be liars," his father said slowly as if carefully considering his words, "Don't give me a reason to doubt it and I won't, don't lie to me and I'll have your backs. You should always _try_ to be honest with people but times might come where you might have to lie but you should _always_ be honest with your family, most things are forgivable in time but trust needs to be rebuilt not forgiven which is much more difficult."

"Okay," Antonius nodded, feeling it was a fair answer.

He still exchanged a look with Cassia though, she clearly wondered the same thing about how fine a line there was between lying and just staying silent on certain things. He started opening his last card while his father downed another glass, immediately going to pour another. It was from someone else unexpected, his paternal grandfather Aurelius and his much younger wife, Dominique. He hadn't even met the man, his father had had some kind of falling out with him a long time ago.

"Aurelius," his father stated darkly as he read the card over his shoulder, not unlike his daughter had done not long before, "Do you want me to throw it in the fire for you?"

* * *

Lorcan Scamander sat unhappily in the midst of a roomful of people, a roomful too many in his opinion but so was the way of birthday parties. It was for his friend, August Longbottom, the youngest of the Longbottom children who was turning fourteen. The blond birthday boy was sitting beside him and seemed as bored as he was, his arms were folded and his eyes focused unwaveringly on Lily Potter who sat chatting happily with her boyfriend, the albino boy Orous Knox from the year above her..

For once the party was surprisingly lacking in the number of Potter-Weasley clan, Victoire and her husband Teddy – although his grandmother, Andromeda was there – were working thus absent, Dom and her much older husband Aurelius had left early after an argument with her father, the orphaned Molly was staying with Scorpius and her younger sister Lucy was away with friends as well and had been since her muggle – she was a squib – boarding school had finished for the year, James was missing – or as Lorcan knew, had joined the Shadows – and Rose was in France with her boyfriend for the last few weeks of summer. Charlie, Percy and his wife were dead now so not there, all killed by Shadows, Bill had also been widowed – also by the Shadows, they were shrinking the family - and George divorced from Angelina so she hadn't come, Bill had also left after the argument and Harry was also working.

Of those there, the elder Molly doting on her first great-granddaughter Charla and talking with George and Caitlin Birch, Charla's mother and girlfriend of Freddie who was George's son and the father. Freddie worked in his father's joke shop and Caitlin also had a job in Diagon Alley, they lived in an apartment there with the year old infant who'd been born their last year of Hogwarts. Freddie was happily chatting away with Louis, Bill's youngest and an Auror trainee who he had always been close to. Arthur was talking to Cade Knox, Orous' stepfather and a muggle, who was probably being inundated with boring questions. Lorcan did not share the old man's enthusiasm for muggle culture. Orous' deaf twin, Maurice Rivers was there as well and engaged in conversation with Hermione. Lorcan would've liked to talk to him but not with Hermione there, he'd been waiting for her to leave him most of the party but apparently intelligent overachievers got along well.

Her husband's conversation seemed much less pleasant, he had been talking in a low tone with Cel Rooke most of the night. Cel being Harry's protégé and about as high-ranking as Ron, Lorcan had tried to spy on them but they were observant and changed the subject whenever he got close. They seemed to be complaining though, annoyed at Harry for not trusting them. Lorcan wasn't surprised, he still hadn't forgiven the man for not believing him on Varanian's innocence. Varanian being the leader of his vigilante group Gray – that Lorcan incredibly proud to consider himself a part of – fighting the Shadows, he'd saved Lorcan before and was a hero in his eyes. Cel was married to Gabrielle, Fleur's sister, who was talking to Roxy about her career as Healer, it was quite random considering Roxy would be in her final year of Hogwarts and had not taken NEWTs for being a Healer. Since Gabrielle was doing that, he'd lost track of her and Cel's almost two year old son, Vale, just like he'd lost track of Albus and Hugo. The latter had gone to the bathroom a while ago and not reappeared yet, the former had been glaring furiously at August's older sister, Abby.

The Longbottom's had had four children: Heather, Nick, Abby and August. The Longbottom parents were in the kitchen with Ginny but Nick had been killed by Pyrrhus Florian a few years ago and Heather had claimed to be too busy with her work to be there for her brother's birthday. Or her father's last month for that matter. It was almost like she'd stopped caring since going to the Bahamas for whatever her job was, Lorcan thought winning the Triwizard Tournament had gone to her head. Abby was in the same year as Albus and he'd last seen her off in a far off corner snogging her boyfriend, Sequoia Pentakel. His younger sisters had also been invited, the elder of whom was talking to Lorcan's own twin, Lysander. Unlike Orous and Maurice, they were identical twins but far from it in personality. They'd been closer once, it felt like so long ago now…

"August!" Albus' voice snapped abruptly and Lorcan was pulled from his boredom by the approach of the younger Potter boy.

"What?" August complained tiredly as he glanced at the teen, Albus was quite all and look a lot like his father except younger, he didn't wear glasses and didn't have any grays hairs.

"Your sister went off with her boyfriend, go tell her she's being a lousy sister and to come back to the party to be with _you_ not _him_."

"What did you do?" Lorcan questioned half-knowingly and half-disinterestedly, idly thumbing the handle of the wand that rarely left his hand.

"Nothing," Albus scoffed as he folded his arms, Lorcan raised an eyebrow, "Well, I just snapped at them to get a room. So they did. Don't they know it's an expression that means stop snogging? August it's your brotherly duty to keep them apart."

"Aren't you neglecting your brotherly duty by not keeping Lily away from her boyfriend?"

"No. I mean they're not kissing or anything, they're just sitting there talking," Albus stated defensively and spared them a glance, as did August who went back to staring at her, Lily was laughing at something he'd said and Orous gave a very strained smile, "Besides, after everything last year I don't want to hassle him right now unless I really have to. Kid's been through enough."

"Damn straight," Lorcan muttered, Orous had been in a coma for a few weeks after killing his evil Shadow mother. His soul was damaged from having the magic ripped out then put back, killing tore it even worse. Lorcan didn't know all the details but he knew enough to pity the older boy, as if it wasn't bad enough they'd put through a similar ordeal to Lorcan himself. Thinking of the twins also made him think of Maurice, he hadn't has his soul harmed but he'd lost his girlfriend when Hogwarts was attacked, "How's Maurice doing?"

"Talking to Aunt Hermione," Albus pointed out as if it were obvious, Lorcan rolled his eyes, "Oh you mean in general?"

"Of course I mean in general, I have eyes!"

"Well according to Vern who heard from Orous, he's pretty upset," Albus explained, Vern Dursley was his cousin who was also a wizard in Hufflepuff – same as Orous – in the year below him. He lived with them and shared a room with Albus, the Potters had taken him in after his parents had been killed. By the Shadows. So many people killed by the Shadows and yet Varanian was the only one doing anything to stop them. Vern was chatting with his girlfriend as well and the younger brother she brought with them, both Slytherins and from the Nott family, "He spends most of his time looking at pictures of Lenore, Orous has heard him crying at night. Orous isn't really talking to Maurice though so that's all he really knows."

"Why aren't they talking?"

"I don't know," Albus shrugged and prodded August, drawing his attention back, "So will you come with him to bring Abby back down?"

"No," August insisted irritably, "You may be jealous of my sister but I'm not."

"I'm not jealous!"

"You're not jealous she got to invite her boyfriend and you didn't get to invite your girlfriend?"

"I _did _get to invite my girlfriend She's just busy, her Dad's having her train a lot and show off her skills to talent scouts to get on a team when she graduates this year," Albus protested while pouting childishly, his girlfriend was Grozda Krum the daughter of the famous Bulgarian Seeker who now taught Flying in Hogwarts. How the mighty had fallen. Albus seemed to cheer up a bit at this though, "I've been meaning to ask Mum about putting in a good word for with the Harpies. Wow. Can you imagine? _My_ girlfriend playing on _my_ favorite team, which is only the best in all of Quidditch. The future Mrs Potter is just _amazing_."

"Well go fantasize somewhere else and quit bugging us," Lorcan complained, the last thing he wanted was to listen to Albus drooling over girls.

"Yeah, if you can be happy with a girlfriend then why can't Abby be happy with her boyfriend?" August added, "You know, the one who could actually make time for her and be bothered to show up."

"You wouldn't be saying that if he wasn't in your house," Albus snapped irritably as he stalked off, "Don't come crying to me when your sister's in tears! Damn Longbottoms."

"Yes, the first thought when I see my sister cry is that I must find Albus Potter," August muttered sarcastically under his breath after Albus left, reverting back to staring at Lily.

"When did you get so cynical?" Lorcan wondered curiously, his friend had seemed increasingly bitter of late.

"Probably from spending too much time with you."

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Hugo offered cheerfully as he sat down beside them, his bushy red hair and faceful of freckles familiar.

However, he had the added addition of the blond haired Valerian "Vale" Rooke in his arms. He was a strange baby, he rarely cried and barely did anything except stare off into space, he didn't like eating – as a result, he was underweight – or smiling either in contrast to the bubbly Charla Weasley. The adults though there was something wrong with him, that he might be mentally retarded or something,

"Why do you have Vale?"

"I thought Gabrielle could use a break from him and she agreed," Hugo shrugged, giving the baby a gentle smile, "Isn't that right, Vale, huh? Did you want to hang out with your big, cool cousins?"

Vale did nothing.

"You know, maybe if you weren't so nice to people then you would've landed in Gryffindor like the rest of your family not be stuck in Hufflepuff," Lorcan pointed out and Hugo lost his smile, he didn't have anything against the house but Hugo had desperately wanted to be in the house of his family.

"What do you or any of us know about making Gryffindor?" August wondered, "I'm a Ravenclaw and you're a Slytherin, we failed too."

"I didn't care where I went. Except not Gryffindor, not Harry's house , not after he _refused_ to believe me about Varanian. When the hat told me I was brave, I told it that I would tear it off my head and light it on fire if it dared put me in Gryffindor house."

"Err… Harsh much?" Hugo muttered with a concerned expression, Lorcan shrugged. He'd been angry, he felt so angry sometimes, "I didn't even get a chance to talk to the hat, second it touched my head it screamed Hufflepuff. And now I'm a disappointment to my family."

"We're all disappointments to our families," August pointed out bitterly, "Even Vale."

"Seriously, what is your problem?" Lorcan wondered and August shrugged aimlessly, "It's your party and you're all grumpy."

"It's not my party, it's my parents'. I guess they think just because I didn't die that I couldn't have a quiet birthday, they also must have figured I'm five because of all these streamers, balloons and bloody party hats. Most of the people here are their friends or relatives of their friends or their friends' friends or relatives of their friends' friends, I've never even met some of these people. If you're throwing a party for someone then you should invite that persons friends not your own."

"Dude, you don't have any friends except us," Hugo offered and Lorcan couldn't help but laugh at the truth of it along with Hugo, August scowled at them.

"It's true," Lorcan insisted, "We're not exactly popular, since when did you care about that anyway?"

"I don't!" August protested and sighed as he turned away.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know! I'm just grumpy and I don't know why!" August snapped testily and the conversation fell silent for a minute, he went back to staring at Lily.

"Did you tell her?" Hugo asked of August randomly, confusing Lorcan while August looked back to the redhead.

"Tell who what?"

"Lily. Did you tell her that you took the spell for her while she was unconscious and that was why you nearly died?"

"No," August admitted and turned back to Lily solemnly, "What's the point? I did it to protect her not so she'd be grateful."

"You like her, don't you?" Lorcan realized and August's cheeks went pink, "You _do_ like her!"

"And so what if I do?" August scoffed as he glanced at him, dropping his voice, "What difference does it make? She's with Orous and he's a good person, she's happy with him and he's happy with her. Even _if_ I like her, it doesn't matter. If I liked her then I'd want her to be happy more then I'd want her to be with me."

"You're a good person, Aug, an unfortunate but good person," Hugo offered gently and August shrugged disinterestedly, his eyes drifting back to Lily.

"Why don't you just like someone else?" Lorcan wondered and both boys looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head.

"I don't think it works that way, Lorc."

"It's not that easy," August agreed and Lorcan rolled his eyes, "Don't you know anything about dating?"

"Clearly not. What would I want with dating?" Lorcan scoffed as he folded his arms crossly.

"Now you sound like Maurice."

"I don't hate the concept, okay? I have no problem with people dating," Lorcan insisted truthfully, "It just doesn't appeal to _me_ personally. I don't care how pretty she is, touch sounds like torture. Maybe someday but today is not the day."

"Maybe you'd like it if you tried it, maybe you'd get over your fear of touch faster to be romantic with a girl. Seems to help Orous and Scorpius."

"Well I'm not Orous and Scorpius, okay?!" Lorcan snapped.

He found himself suddenly feeling very smothered in the crowded room, he stormed off to get some air outside and to try calm down before he accidentally caused something to burn or blow up or other destructive things that happened when he got upset. He stopped when the sounds of voices died down, putting his against one of the outer walls and leaning against it. He hated being like this but being kidnapped and molested had that effect on people, or at least on him. Scorpius and Orous – who had suffered similarly - _did_ seem to manage better then him, maybe he was just weak? His family – especially his father and brother – thought he should be 'better' by now and hated who he was, especially after he'd accidentally burned his father's hands when he tried to hug him. And Lysander didn't even remember him protecting him during their abduction, if he hadn't then Lorcan could be the 'sane' one. It hurt to hear his twin calling him a coward after that, just because he was Slytherin. He kicked the wall in frustration.

"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" August offered and Lorcan turned back to see he and Hugo – still holding Vale – had followed him out, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Its fine," Lorcan brushed it off and hastily wiped his eyes before tears could form, he took a deep breath as he folded his arms. Glancing at his friends, Hugo was just a bit tall for his age while August was still short and Lorcan about average, Vale just stared with sad eyes. Seriously, what was wrong with the kid? "Not like you two can understand anyway but take it from me, when you've been stuck with some pervert who couldn't keep his hands off you… You are _not _eager to be touched by anyone anymore, Scorpius and Orous may have girlfriends but I'd bet my life they take things slow. Healing is a slow process that varies from person to person, that's what Leebin says and he knew his shit."

"Okay," the two nodded before they were distracted by a girl giggling not too far away.

The trio spun and Lorcan spotted his twin not too far away, same dirty blond hair except neater and amber eyes without the bags. He was walking with one of the Pentakel girls, the youngest Terra who was in the year below them. She had the same brown hair and blue eyes like her siblings, she was pretty actually and wearing a lilac dress with a flower on the side. Lysander was smiling widely before leaning in, Terra looked uncertain as if she'd never been kissed before Lysander pressed his lips against hers. Lorcan started to turn away in disgust, Terra suddenly didn't look pretty anymore but he stopped when he noticed a moth flying towards his brother. Lorcan felt a jab of terror, Pyrrhus Florian could turn into a moth… Lysander was oblivious had his back to it, his eyes closed and had encircled his arms around Terra who was facing the moth but had had eyes closed stupidly as well.

"Lys!" Lorcan called desperately, brandishing his wand and rushing towards his brother.

"What are you doing?!" Hugo or August yelled as they both seemed to follow him. Lysander and Terra immediately pulled apart, Terra blushing furious and Lysander turning on him angrily.

"Honestly, Lorcan, just because-" Lysander started to say while the moth transformed back into Florian behind him, Terra screamed and he screamed when he turned .

"_Avada_-" Florian started to say when Lorcan was still too far for a spell, to Lorcan's horror his wand was aimed at his twin. His heart stopped beating, he couldn't watch his twin die. He couldn't, "-_Kedav_-"

"NO!" Lorcan screamed and his wrist burned, Florian was thrown violently backwards into a tree. For once uncontrolled magic playing in his favor, he reached the couple and turned to them, "Run!"

Lysander didn't waste a second of time, grabbing Terra's hand and did his genius run back to the house? Which was full of adults – including several trained Aurors – who were perfectly capable of dueling and Maurice, who was like an unstoppable force of death with in a duel. No. He ran like a fool into the forest.

"I'll get help!" Hugo offered, hugging Vale as close to his chest as possible so he could shield him his body as he raced back. He couldn't do much holding a baby anyway.

"_Protego!_" August cried as Florian fired a spell after Hugo to stop him.

The spell deflected back and crashed into a tree, which burst immediately into flames. Florian had fired a second spell immediately after as he stood, it struck August almost as soon as the spell left his lips. His friend was thrown back against a tree while his wand flew from his grip, he cried out in pain as a branch ripped through his stomach. Hugo froze at the sound.

"_Stupefy!"_ Lorcan blurted out, wishing desperately he knew non-verbal magic.

Florian held up his free hand to Lorcan's spell while flicking his wand at August, a shimmering shield appeared before his palm to deflect Lorcan's spell while the branches around August morphed into chains to bind the boy there. Lorcan started to repeat his spell but Florian spun around, waving his hand and wand. The fire from the tree spread in the direction he motioned, creating a wall of livid shades of red and orange to trap them in the forest. But worst of all was that August was in its path, still helplessly chained to the tree.

To Lorcan's soul-chilling terror, the flames ripped through his friend and August screamed in agony as the fire started to consume him. Lorcan could feel the intense heat, smell something so horrible he wanted to vomit. He ran to help August just as Hugo did but Florian bolted in the direction Lysander had gone, flicking his wand again to complete the circle of fire around them. Vale started crying then, Hugo discarded him to help August.

"GO!" Hugo yelled at him, gesturing in the direction Florian had gone after his twin, "I've got him, go!"

Lorcan wrenched himself away, feeling guilty for leaving his friends as he threw himself through the flames with August's screams still clawing through his ears as he ran. He ran so fast his trainers skidding on the sloping ground, he heard a scream just before reaching the bottom and saw Florian had struck his brother with a spell that had conjured bounds around his ankles to prevent him from fleeing. Terra bravely turned to face him, withdrawing her wand to protect herself and Lysander.

Lorcan and Terra both started to cast different spells while Lysander cowered in terror, however before they could do anything, Florian lunged and a jet of green whizzed by where his ear had been. Lorcan had learned his lesson about firing Killing Curses near friends though, he turned and saw figures stepping out of the shadows around them. They were all dressed in black cloaks, a blue skeletal snake emblazed on their chests coiled in a random shape with its head central and forked tongue sticking out. The Shadow Mark, they were Shadows.

They all started firing at once, not at the kids but at Florian. Despite his hatred for the man, Lorcan had to admit that Florian was an impressive duelist and it reminded him of Maurice. He was blur, ducking and dodging and waving his way through the curses while slamming up shields with both hand and wand. Lorcan couldn't help but notice that his left shoulder seemed injured somehow, its movements weren't as fluid and he cringed if moving it a certain way or speed. Lorcan was completely unsure of what to do, Florian was evil and had just lit his friend on fire so should he be helping the Shadows? But then, the Shadows were evil and had done numerous bad things as well so should he be helping Florian? Which side should he be fighting for? Terra was trying to get to Lysander, who was still unable to move but couldn't lest she be caught in the crossfire as she and Lorcan were more on the outskirts of the fight.

Florian seemed to decide to call it a loss and disapparated with a crack, almost all of the Shadows following suit. All but one who fired a final spell, at Lysander. It was so unexpected after Florian had been the target that Lorcan didn't react in time and the white jet struck his brother. The Shadow vanished as Lysander clutched his face and started screaming, Lorcan and Terra both ran to him, falling to their knees in the dirt beside him.

"What's wrong?!" Lorcan blurted out in panic and Lysander stopped screaming, he lowered his hands shakily to show tear-filled eyes, "Lysander! What's wrong?! Are you alright?! What did they do to you?!"

"I-I remember, Lorc," Lysander stammered out quietly as tears spilled from his eyes, his face twisting into an expression of extreme guilt, "I remember the abduction, I remember _everything_. I remember… And I've been so horrible and y-you were s-so good to me, protecting me, I'm so sorry."


	2. Chapter 2: A Dark Start

_**Parts (4-7)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 2**

A Dark Start

* * *

**Part 1: **News

* * *

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy had been having a great summer, his parents had been true to their word about letting him have a friend stay with him. He'd intended for his best friend, Michael Sanford, to stay with him for a while but an offhand comment from his girlfriend on the platform had resulted in his parents offering for her to stay instead. He was quite sure his father had done it on purpose, Michael had been turned into a werewolf at the end of their Third Year and only his mother seemed completely comfortable with having a werewolf over. He'd managed to convince his father to agree to Michael for Christmas though, on the condition his OWL results had been good. Scorpius didn't consider himself the smartest person in the world but in his experience, doing the work and paying attention in class tended to be enough so he was quite confident he'd pass at the very least.

Not that he was complaining about having gotten to spend time with his girlfriend – especially since she'd just finished her Seventh Year so short of failing all her NEWTs, she wouldn't be returning this year with him – but he just worried about Michael, his friend struggled with his condition and had even taken up drinking until Scorpius had been suspended taking the fall for him. It didn't help Michael was Dyslexic, making it hard to communicate though letters since Michael struggled to write and Scorpius struggled to read his words. Apart from that, he'd been enjoying his summer though.

His girlfriend was of course, Molly Mavis Weasley, he'd had a crush on her since his First Year and had been dating her since his Third. He loved her. He'd stayed several times with her family at the Weasley Burrow so he was very happy for her to spend time with him at the Malfoy Manor now, it wasn't she like a home to go to now anyway. Her mother had been killed in his First Year and her father just last Christmas, both of them had died at the Shadows hands or Soul Eaters as they called themselves. She had extended family – she was a _Weasley_ \- but considering she was of age now she didn't intend to stay with them but rather with Gray.

The world was at a state of war with the Shadows, muggles and wizardkind alike as they seemed to want to rule the whole world not just one part. So far they'd already claimed Greece and Turkey in its entirety, a feat not even Voldemort had accomplished. The Shadows were led by the Shadow Master whose identity and appearance remained unknown, they did however know he was Voldemort's son and Marius Calderon's brother. Calderon had been an assistant at Hogwarts, helping out in every way possible and had fought to protect the school at every opportunity from the Shadows. He was also Scorpius' cousin, Calderon had – and disturbingly, probably the Shadow Master too - been Bellatrix Lestrange's son, Scorpius' grandmother's sister, and Scorpius had looked up to him, considered him a friend. Until the truth had been revealed, someone had tipped off the Aurors and they'd arrested him.

The Shadow Master had undoubtedly orchestrated it, he'd attacked Hogwarts a few months ago and while Gray had had a hand in tricking the army into retreating, Scorpius didn't think it would have mattered if Calderon hadn't engaged his brother. Both Riddles wielded incredible wandless magic, whatever walls most people had being broken due to being raised in Azkaban followed by being 'taught' with torture. The Shadow Master also had a weapon that had belonged to his ancestor the infamous Herpo the Foul, it was called the Scepter of Night, named because when in use it brought darkness. It was powerful in its own right – from what Scorpius had gathered, it comprised of what would be considered two wands by today's standards – but also let the user safely channel more magic then they would usually have, the Shadow Master already being used to channeling more than usual and being able to rip the magic from others' souls made for a devastating combination as the fallen countries proved. And that was even with the armies, people and Specters, the Shadows of Dementors capable of destroying souls, spying almost invisibly and possessing people depending on the color of their soul.

Shadows riddled the Ministry, including plenty of Aurors making it difficult for them to fight back. And that was where Gray came in, former Headmaster Pip Varanian had been framed by the Shadows for trying to take over Hogwarts since being a metamorphmagus made it easy for them to hide the fact he'd been possessed the whole time. Calderon, Scorpius and his grandfather – who'd had his soul destroyed in the process – had thwarted the plan but Varanian couldn't prove his innocence, he'd escaped his arrest after Shadow Aurors tried to kill him and had started fighting them instead. He'd made an alliance with Scorpius due to the fact he'd been in danger at time, they'd been fighting them ever since with other people slowly trickling in to join them. They were still a small group but a group nonetheless, Varanian had finally christened them Gray in the midst of the attack on Hogwarts.

Scorpius spent a lot of free time at Varanian's hideout instead of at home, Varanian having given him a Portkey that could take him there. For the first time in a long time, he'd been balancing his time much better between home and Varanian due to Molly's presence. Her being there made it easier to get away, Molly was of age and perfectly capable of apparating so they could claim to be going somewhere. Molly was actively helping while the most Scorpius could do was train, he was still bound by the Trace and his August birthday didn't help. He could use magic at the hideout though, Varanian had set up enchantments to avoid the Trace. Thus he could practice mostly dueling, Occlumency and continue his animagus training. Wyatt Grant, another member of Gray, was an animagus and had been helping him, Aurelius Ashain – also an animagus - also had sometimes recently if Wyatt was busy.

Since Michael was a werewolf, only animagi could safely be around him during his transformations and Scorpius was determined to become one to support his friend. He thought it might help, Michael had a habit of attacking himself during transformations. He had been training since he was fourteen. According to both animagi, he was getting close though as the transfigurations were becoming more severe. And painful. He wasn't going to give up though, he'd get it. He knew he would.

But aside from all that, he also was spending more time at home with Molly. She'd been given her own room that was about as far as his could be, he thought this was quite unnecessary and he could only hope the ensuite bathroom made up for the extra corridors she had to walk to get down to breakfast. He'd shown her the manor and the grounds where his grandfather's white peacocks used to roam, the gardens, the skies – Molly was an avid Quidditch player and had been their Captain since her Fourth Year – and the village nearby. Scorpius had almost forgotten what it was like to just be home, he spent so much time trying to get away after all. This also meant more time with his family too.

There was his grandmother, the widowed Narcissa who had asked if Molly was pureblood – which she was, the last pureblooded Weasley due to her sister's squib status and her cousins all being half-bloods to some degree – then seemed satisfied and went back to hanging out alone. She seemed to have come to peace with her paranoia about the Shadow Master being Voldemort's son, for one mild moment he'd considered she might've known about her sister's children but he figured she'd have said something surely when the whole thing first came to light. He supposed she was just stressed, the war took its toll. His father, Draco, was being his usual respectable and distant self although he did make an effort to converse with Molly at least. Still, it was his mother, Astoria, who did the most talking. She was easily the most sociable Malfoy and the former Ravenclaw seemed to get on well enough with Molly, Scorpius took this to be a good sign. Especially considering his parents had encouraged him she'd break up with him when she graduated, they were going to try making it work long distance though. Then of course there was his baby brother, Sol, who was only twenty months old and was enjoying his new found ability to walk. Enjoying life in general really, he was just happy and bubbly, always smiling and laughing which always seemed to lighten the mood. He also had taken a liking to Molly, even recognizing and attempting her name.

She'd been there for his sixteenth birthday at the beginning of August where she'd gotten him another leather jacket which was his favorite item of clothing, he'd been surprised and excited to find his chocolate cake had icing Thestrals gliding over it to spell out 'Happy Birthday Scorpius.' It had ben Molly's idea apparently, she knew he was fond of the strange creatures most found disturbing if they could see them at all. They'd gone to a Quidditch match to celebrate, naturally in a sky box. Since becoming Seeker, Scorpius had found he enjoyed playing much more than he liked watching and hadn't even followed the teams since his abduction. Nonetheless he didn't regret it, Sol got to go to his first Quidditch match – he was quite excited by the action despite not being old enough to comprehend it – and it broke the ice very much with his father and girlfriend. His father did still enjoy Quidditch and it was a subject Molly was very passionate about, she became very animated when talking about it and they got into an intense discussion about it. It left Scorpius to chat about the weather with his grandmother and help his mother point out things happening to Sol.

The only particularly bad thing that happened – unless you counted the news of the Shadows taking Turkey which was bad but didn't happen to Scorpius personally – was being triggered by Molly during a snogging session, memories of his abuse at muggle hands invading his mind and scaring him off. It was particularly upsetting that it hadn't happened in a while and he was beginning to think he was alright, it forcibly reminded him that as much progress as he felt he made, he was still marked by his painful past. Molly had been good about it, of course she had but he didn't ease the unbearable shame he felt and he was sure it bothered her too even if she didn't say anything. After all, who could be happy with a boyfriend who could freak out if you touched him? Kissing wasn't supposed to be a difficult experience. He noticed her being more cautious after as well, he wondered if Orous had ever had that.

Despite being pleased with his summer, he also got the impression that Molly felt similar to he did when he stayed in the Burrow, that it wasn't bad but it was also a very different way of doing things like Malfoys would never dream of coming down to breakfast in pajamas like Weasleys did. It made him nervous, he was serious about his relationship with Molly and could very much see them married someday – in the far, far future – where they would live together, probably even in the Malfoy Manor. Could it ever work with the differences in their families and lifestyles? He wasn't sure and thankfully, not even he was paranoid enough to worry that far ahead, there were plenty more obstacles before that to worry over he was sure. For starters, there was no future for anyone while the Shadows were still there. He was also starting to get worried about his OWLs, they still hadn't arrived with two weeks until September.

_He was in a house he remembered well, a muggle dwelling but he didn't spare it much of a glance. He already knew where he was going. A man with a flash of emerald for eyes rushed out of one of the doors, gun aimed at him. Scorpius just held up his hand though, there was a bang as the gun was fired but the bullet shot straight back through the man who'd fired it and sent him flying back into his own grave. He kept walking, starting his ascent of the stairs and a stocky man with a sadistic expression stepped out. Scorpius raised his wand – which for some reason was dripping in blood – and ended the man with a blinding flash of green, his body toppled out of sight and he wasn't given another second of thought. _

_He continued his ascent and reached the attic door, guarded by a frail, aging man with white hair. He raised his wand, there was a snap and the man screamed as his leg twisted violently into another direction. He flicked his wand again and again, again and again. Each time a sickening snap and a body part jerking the wrong way, finally the man just collapsed in a broken, sobbing lump. Scorpius stepped over him to get into the attic, the man dying before his hand touched the door. He pushed it open, revealing a small boy handcuffed to a bed that Scorpius immediately made his way towards. The boy was only wearing a white t-shirt and underwear, his legs were bruised and bloody, his arms not much better. His extremely dark auburn hair was matted and filthy, tears were streaming from the dark chestnut eyes. Scorpius raised his wand, the handcuffs snapped._

_"Why?" the boy sobbed as he rubbed his wrist, Scorpius tilted his head curiously, "Why didn't you protect me?"_

Scorpius woke with a start, his body lurching upright as he gulped down breaths. It was the third time he'd had that dream, it was starting to really disturb him. He ran his left hand through the head of sweaty white-blond hair that had plastered itself to his forehead, sighing as he moved it back down to look at the scar on his wrist, pushing away Michael's friendship bracelet to look better. One continuous line wrapped around it, two more either side that were more disjointed. A link binding himself to the Shadow Master along with the four other boys - Orous Knox, Maurice Rivers, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander - bearing the same scar, Calderon had sealed it somewhat but couldn't erase it.

He moved his fingers over to the palm, scarred by a symbol that was also an arrow, the rune Tiwaz that he'd been given in his First Year when activating the Blood Runes. There was a fainter diagonal line going through it, a result of his palm being cut when the Shadow Master had been revived in his Second Year. To think, he could've ended the war before it began if he'd just had the guts to kill, he shoved aside that guilt. That was also his ring hand, he had the Portkey ring that looked like a wedding band and above it was the silver Thestral ring that Calderon had given to him which he kept – much like the friendship bracelet – for sentimental value not for any practical use. His other hand was worse off, that and the wrist was a blotchy mess of pale skin that raised and grooved in random places, a result of a burn he'd received pulling Varanian out of the fire in his Fourth Year. Thinking of Varanian's poor, horrifically charred body, he considered he'd actually gotten off quite lucky. The war was not as easy to walk away from as his parents believed.

Seeing it was light, he decided to just go ahead and get up. He washed and dressed before leaving, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he did so. He was taller now with a slender frame, his father with only a few inches on him and like his father, he did have similar pale, pointed features but his face was more youthful. His hairline was not receding like his father but letting a fringe flop over his forehead with a parting to the off-center side, Scorpius hadn't needed to start shaving yet though. He had the same dull gray eyes as his father as well but unlike him, had a small scar on his chin inflicted by Michael after turning into a werewolf during his Third Year. _Hmm… Maybe my parents do have a point about me coming back every year with more scars_, Scorpius mused to himself as he headed down to breakfast.

To his surprise, an official looking owl was sitting on the table and it leaned over to place its message down on the table in front of it in a very careful way, as if the contents were delicate. His name was on the envelope and Scorpius had a pretty good idea of who it was from, he knew a Hogwarts letter when he saw one. He picked it up and noticed it felt a bit heavier than usual, likely from the added results. He let out a relieved breath that they'd arrived at least, he expected the results had been ready awhile but the Headmaster resigning and having to make staff changes might have delayed them with the usual book list part. He braced himself, hoping he'd get good enough marks for Michael before he tore into the letter to read:

**_Ordinary Wizarding Level Results_**

**_Pass Grades _**

_Outstanding (O) _

_Exceeds Expectations (E) _

_Acceptable (A) _

**_Fail Grades_**

_Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

**_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy has achieved:_**

_Astronomy: E_

_Care of Magical Creatures: O_

_Charms: O_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts: O_

_Divination: E_

_Herbology: O_

_History of Magic: A_

_Potions: E_

_Study of Ancient Runes: E_

_Transfiguration: O_

Scorpius scanned them and rescanned them, then scanned them a third time to make sure he was reading them correctly. He thought they were good enough for his parents, his lowest grade was the Acceptable for History of Magic but he thought his parents should be pleased with that considering how boring the subject was. He was slightly disappointed by his grade in Study of Ancient Runes, he did greatly enjoy the subject but his suspension had taken its toll and the teacher being off injured from the Hogwarts attack had made it harder to catch up as well. Unlike pretty much all his friends – and pretty much everyone in his year he thought – he hadn't gotten a career in mind so he wasn't looking for any specific grades, he was just going to take the subjects he liked and try get a good amount of grades to fall back on.

"Those your OWL results?" a very familiar voice questioned and Scorpius spun to see his girlfriend entering the room, she was beautiful with sky blue eyes and crimson curls that framed a flawless face.

"Yeah," Scorpius admitted and showed her the page, she glanced at it and grinned.

"Well done, Scor, they're really great," Molly congratulated him and pecked him on the lips, "I reckon you have your Mother's brains."

"Thanks. I'm surprised your NEWTs aren't here," Scorpius told her, glancing around as if an owl would be hiding somewhere but Molly waved a piece of paper in front of his face.

"They did come, I just beat you to it."

"How'd you do?"

"Four Outstandings and three Exceeds Expectations," Molly told him a shrug, "Could've been better but not bad."

"Well I'm sure they're not called Nastily Exhausting for no reason, you did good," Scorpius offered with a smile and kissed her gently back, he did think she'd done well especially considering her father's death and everything from last year to distract from her studies.

"Those your OWL results?" another family voice asked and Scorpius turned again to see his parents coming in with his baby brother toddling along between them, looking like he wanted nothing more than to tear off from their hands and run.

Scorpius nodded and their expressions became serious, he kept his face blank as he handed them the page. They looked so worried as they read it while Scorpius turned his attention back to the envelope which was still oddly heavy, he pulled out the booklist and was happy to see several Alchemy books were listed. It was an elective subject for NEWT students which was only taught if there was enough interest, Scorpius had signed up for it and could only assume there had been enough interest for there to be books on Alchemy. He had originally put his name down at his friend's pleading but had actually come to be quite interested in the subject, it had saved his friend's life when his soul had been damaged. The Alchemy teacher, Rayan Fintan, had seemed quite amicable as well so he was looking forward to it.

The envelope remained heavy though, Scorpius scowled and noticed there was another piece of paper in there. He was wondering whether it was some kind of extra NEWT related letter as he pulled it out, dislodging something and a shiny silver badge with a large 'C' on it fell into his palm. Scorpius started in shock and dove into the new letter.

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded Captainship of the Gryffindor Quidditch team._

_You will now take on the responsibilities and privileges of Quidditch Captain, it is your job to arrange tryouts and practices (to book the pitch, please speak to the Flying Instructor Viktor Krum once term has resumed), choose and manage players as well as dealing with any Quidditch related issues, you will also be expected to show good sportsmanship including shaking hands with fellow Captains. You will now have access to the Prefect's Bathroom, the location and password of which will be given upon arrival at Hogwarts._

_Please bear in mind, you may have earned the place of Quidditch Captain but it can be taken away subject to severe misconduct or failure to fulfil your duties. If you have any further questions or concerns, please speak to your Head of House._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Astor Myon Koray_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"Well done!" his mother exclaimed happily and Scorpius felt her arms wrapping around him tightly, Sol tried to bolt but his father grabbed his hand instead, "Five Outstandings! That's brilliant, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," Scorpius offered as the brunette pulled away, grinning from ear to ear and even his father gave him an approving smile.

"And what's that you got there?" his father wondered and Scorpius held out the badge.

"I erm… made Quidditch Captain apparently," Scorpius admitted uncertainly, he hadn't expected to be chosen and in truth, wasn't even sure what to do. His mother beamed even more as she pulled him into another hug.

"And Quidditch Captain too! I'm so proud of you my little boy," his mother told him cheerfully and Scorpius had to question her wording, he was taller than her now after all.

"Astoria, would you stop smothering the boy?" his father chastised her immediately. Naturally, because hugging you child like a normal parent wouldn't be very proper. His mother complied and pulled away, her smile remained and she touched his face lovingly. Molly watched on with an unfathomable expression yet somehow, he knew she was missing her own parents.

"So proud."

"What would you like as a reward? A new broom? We could get you one of those _Fallstars_ that Molly has got, I believe they should be out now to the general public."

"No," Scorpius shot it down immediately, he didn't care if his broom was outdated. It had been a gift from his grandfather. Who was dead now, "Just let Michael stay at Christmas, that's all I want."

"That's for your OWLs and it's not much of a reward."

"Do you not value people over possessions, Mr Malfoy?" Molly wondered curiously and his father seemed taken aback by the question, opening and closing his mouth several times as if trying to think of what to say.

"Well yes but-"

"Those his OWL results?" his grandmother asked as she joined them, sparing his father from having to answer.

The last two weeks of August passed by fairly uneventfully, they went to Diagon Alley to get his things where Sol and Molly got to experience the joys of being a Malfoy. Namely, the dirty looks thrown their way due to the dark reputation associated with them. Molly also had to try very hard not to look shocked by how much money was in his family's vault, what was she expecting? A small pile of Sickles and a single Galleon? No one with a vault had that little money, he was sure. Molly also seemed shocked when they headed into Knockturn Alley to look for some of the more obscure Alchemy books, he didn't like Dark Magic either but was Knockturn Alley really that bad? It wasn't like they were after anything bad. There were still a handful of Aurors patrolling Diagon Alley and everyone going in and out was subject to being searched, Molly managed to get all except his father a pass from it due to being the niece of the Head Auror and all. Molly treated him to a notebook that she joked he could use to schedule training sessions like she had when she was captain.

Unfortunately, he didn't see any of his friends walking around getting supplies. Closest he got was to meet Caitlin Birch, Freddie's girlfriend and mother of his child, who worked – and lived - in Diagon Alley, she'd been on the Quidditch team for a while so Scorpius knew her, she was nice enough. The only friend he met was Abby Longbottom, it was hard not to when her mother was Landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. She was with her boyfriend and he with his family so they didn't speak much though, she did assure him her brother was doing better. Varanian had told him about Florian's attack on the poor kid's birthday, although still weren't sure whether trying to kill Longbottoms had really been his motivation. Especially when he seemed to have been after Lysander or possibly Terra Pentakel as his primary goal, the Shadows Varanian spied on had no idea what he'd been after either.

The last day of August, he went to see Varanian for the final time before he'd be back at Hogwarts. The hideout was in a fairly isolated stretch of farmland, from the outside it was a large dilapidated wreck but inside it was nicer. It was also busier these days, Varanian making the group official had also prompted him to make more use of the people who wanted to help. The hallway was a burnt orange, the first door on the left was Roman Rivers' room. The father of his friends Orous and Maurice as well as being Molly's maternal uncle, he'd been a wreck since his fiancée's death in the Hogwarts attack and Scorpius hadn't seen him but had heard him crying from inside. There were plenty of other rooms, most of which weren't occupied but there if needed. There was a trapdoor that led to Varanian's basement, he'd started locking it recently though, apparently valuing his privacy more with extra bodies around. The corridor led straight through into the kitchen, which was where he surprisingly found a man with dust-colored hair and reddish brown eyes. Austin Latimer, his friend's father.

"What's up, Scor?" Austin offered cheerfully, twirling a wand in his hand. Which was strange considering Scorpius knew he had been expelled and lost his wand, something he desperately craved and had developed his own wandless magic due to his lack of one.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"I live here now, I've been approved to be a part of Gray," Austin explained in a somewhat sardonic tone.

"You don't sound very pleased," Molly pointed out cautiously and he counted things off on his fingers.

"Well I can't leave because then I'm stuck fending for myself against Shadows who want to kill him for refusing to join them, that's just awesome. I could now be arrested for being part of a vigilante group. I get a wand – _finally_ \- but I have to teach everyone how to do wandless magic. There's no alcohol allowed for no reason. I'm bored out of my mind."

"Don't you want to do your part in the war?"

"Not really," Austin admitted with a dismissive shrug before Dominique "Dom" Ashain – nee Weasley – rushed in to throw up in the sink, Austin cringed in disgust, "Ugh, couldn't you do that somewhere else?"

"Clearly not," Scorpius insisted while Molly went over to help her cousin, Austin shrugged again callously, "How's Lat?"

"Out with our insane golden eagle, you just missed him. He's really into all this fighting Shadows stuff, helping people and making a difference. All that jazz."

"Maybe because he's a good person."

"Or it's just another way for him to be suicidal," Austin pointed out seriously, making Scorpius rethink his answer lightly. Latimer – his first name was Tobias but he tended to go by his last name – had attempted suicide in the past.

"I'm fine," Dom was saying, drawing her attention back to the girls.

Dom may have married an Ashain but her hair was still Weasley red, she was naturally attractive due to her Veela heritage – still had nothing on Molly - but not so much when wiping vomit off her chin. Another member of the group also took that moment to walk in from behind Scorpius, Annie Thorne, she was his friend Michael's maternal aunt and a former paramedic. Her muggle-born status and the Death Eaters taking Hogwarts when she should have been taking her first year had meant she didn't get to go, she'd only found out she was a witch recently. She was a former paramedic and Varanian had been teaching her after she saved his life, she was often Scorpius' sparring partner and recently seemed to have given up her alcoholism. Her hair was a reddish-brown that was tied back up in a way he didn't know enough about girls' hairstyles to describe, her eyes were a sharp blue like her brother. Michael's father had merged his soul with a Specter, he left behind a trail of bodies and they hadn't found him or figured out how to stop him yet. Another reason he'd wanted his friend around.

"People usually puke when they're fine," Annie quipped as she pulled a bottle of water from the fridge.

"It's just a bug, I-"

"Nope," Annie cut the younger woman off, leaning back against the fridge to drink the water, "You're pregnant."

"I'm not pregnant!" Dom gasped in shock, Annie gave a disinterested shrug.

"Well ignore the medical professional if you want but I'm right and you're wrong."

"I'm not pregnant!"

"Do wizards and witches really think saying something over and over again makes it true?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Austin offered and chuckled to himself while Dom just looked concerned, "Wizards can be unbelievably dense sometimes."

"You're a wizard," Scorpius pointed out and Annie seemed to notice him for the first time.

"Yeah but I'm a muggle-born so I wasn't raised cut off from common sense."

"Pip's not here if you were looking for him," Annie explained to Scorpius, much to his disappointment. She alone called Varanian by his first name. He wasn't sure if they got along on it, they seemed to bicker frequently yet they smiled more around each other, "He and Wyatt went with Hal, they're checking out Auror safe houses to try find Calderon."

"Still no luck with that?" Molly wondered and Annie shook her head.

"Warning Hal, we managed to stop the Shadows taking him but since then they've upped protection. Hal guards him but he doesn't know where, Potter brings them in shifts so they don't know the location and he's not even the Secret-Keeper. We know it's not a Shadow or they'd have got to him but any other Auror is still open season, or maybe our mysterious Minister," Annie told them before clapping her hands, "Chop-Chop, people. Austin, don't you have people to be teaching wandless magic too?"

"Fine," Austin stated acidly and stood, heading off and gesturing for Dom and Molly to follow. Molly pecked him on the cheek in goodbye.

"I'm not pregnant," Dom insisted, sparing a look over her shoulder as she left.

"You keep telling yourself that," Annie muttered before pulling something out of her pocket and tossing it to Scorpius, he caught it easily – he _was _a Seeker – and saw it was a kind of weird, blank coin, "Give that to Michael when you see him tomorrow, tell him if I can do it then he can."

"What is it?" Scorpius wondered.

"Sobriety chip. I conjured it myself," Annie offered before setting down the bottle, "Watch yourselves, I know Michael doesn't give a shit about much right now but you do so take care of him. The Shadow Master may be in Turkey right not but there's still plenty of Shadows here, not to mention Florian and Jack."

"I will," Scorpius promised and she nodded with a smile, her wand appearing in her hand as she pushed herself off the fridge.

"So do you want to spend your last day moping Pip's busy or duel?"

"Duel," Scorpius grinned back.

* * *

**Part 2: **Reunions and Separations

* * *

"What so you're not going to give me any advice at all?" Scorpius complained of his girlfriend as they strode through King's Cross station.

She, Sol and his parents had come to see him off for Hogwarts, his grandmother had said her goodbyes before they left the Manor. He was pushing his trolley of things, Free – his owl – was joined by Sol who was enjoying being pushed around on it, Scorpius did a wheelie with it and his brother whooped and laughed in ecstatic delight. He smiled slightly to himself, wondering if he'd ever been amused at something as simple as that. Molly had her own things with her as well, slung over her shoulder in a bag that had been magically extended as she was joining Varanian right after he left. His parents were following behind them, having their own conversation.

"No," Molly insisted determinedly while Sol threw a look back over his shoulder, looking hopeful and trying not to smile as if wanting another wheelie, "_You_ are the Captain now, not me, you need to figure it out on your own not have me telling you what to do."

"You couldn't even give me a hint?" Scorpius wondered hopefully while Sol whined, suddenly looking very much like a small puppy.

"Do you really want to be the one Captain who, instead of taking their own initiative, is just doing what his girlfriend tells him?"

"Yes. No. Maybe?" Scorpius guessed from the changes in her expression, she shrugged unhelpfully and he shook his head in defeat before Sol babbled something unfathomable but was surely his way of asking for another wheelie, "Alright, alright."

Scorpius picked up the pace as they reached the barrier, Sol shrieked with delight as he did a wheelie through while Free squawked disapprovingly instead. He fed the bird a treat to make up for it and stroked him through the cage while the others followed though, Sol tugged on his sleeve though and pointed to the scarlet engine standing there gleaming as always. He babbled something else random that only he could understand, looking awestruck.

"That's right, a _train_," Scorpius emphasized despite Sol's sentence having been not being remotely close, he still babbled something incorrectly.

"You're so good with your brother," Molly offered with a smile that turned sad, "If only I had that with my sister."

"How is Lucy?"

"Still furious with me, at least she's with friends," Molly shrugged and scooped up Sol who immediately pointed out the train to her as well, babbling nonsensically, "Do you want to get a closer look at the _train, _huh Sol?"

"Why don't you find your friends?" his father asked, stopping Scorpius from going after Molly as she wondered off towards the train to show Sol, "We'll get this stuff on the train."

"Err… Sure," Scorpius agreed, slightly surprised his father was so willing, "Thank you, Father."

Scorpius left them to it, he slipped away into the crowd to search for familiar faces or Molly, who he'd lost track off. He caught sight of a snatch of white hair though and headed towards it, finding three of his friends. One was the emerald-eyed Vern Dursley, the orphaned muggle-born had been taken in by the Potters, a Badger amongst Lions. He had a head of stringy brown hair and had shot up over the summer, surpassing his companions in height as well as fleshing out his wiry frame with some more muscle. He was standing – and holding hands - with his girlfriend, Olivia Nott, a brunette Slytherin in the same year, and the sons of Roman Rivers. He noticed all four of them now had a shiny badge pinned to their chests.

Orous Knox was an albino, as a result his skin was beyond pale and his eyes were a bloody crimson which both made the dark circles beneath his eyes more prominent. His hair was whiter than snow naturally rather than from age, it had a slight wave to it. He was in the year below Scorpius and a Hufflepuff like Vern, unlike his Gryffindor twin beside him. Maurice Rivers had regular Caucasian skin and light brown hair that also had a slight wave to it, his features were misleadingly soft and his oceanic eyes were burdened by the same tired shadows as his brother. His hands were scarred by layers of words from his time in the Shadow school that had taught him to be a soldier, one was clasped around the necklace he wore around his neck. Maurice was deaf, the necklace translated words to speech for him to read.

"Scor!" Orous greeted him cheerfully in a deeper voice then the last time he'd seen him and gave Scorpius a hug, he pulled away with a tired smile, "So you made Quidditch Captain too, huh?"

"Too?" Scorpius repeated and glanced at the badge on his friend's robes, noticing it too had a 'C' engraved. He returned the smile, "Well done, mate. So the rest of you..."

"Prefect," Olivia offered, grinning proudly and gesturing to the 'P' badges her and her boyfriend wore. Along with Maurice, much to Scorpius' confusion as he'd been taking OWLs with them last year. His lifetime of Shadow schooling had put him ahead of the usual, he'd been in Scorpius' classes since Christmas due to outstanding performance. Did this mean he'd failed them and wouldn't be doing NEWTs?

"I'm still technically a Fifth Year despite being in your classes, I sleep in their dormitory and count as one of them I think," Maurice explained as if reading his mind, "Of course I made Prefect. I'll be doing NEWTs, I got straight Outstandings on my OWLs."

"Well done," Scorpius congratulated him, not sure why he was surprised, "I only got five, one Acceptable and the rest were all Exceeds Expectations."

"That's still good," Vern offered encouragingly, "You did better than Albus. And James for that matter."

"Kyle and Maxie too," Olivia agreed, she had too two older brothers. One had graduated the year before last and one was in Scorpius' year, she had a younger as well who was a Second Year. As if on cue, a short, brunette boy rushed over to her and she smiled at her brother in greeting, "Hey Aloysius, you kn-"

"Dad has to leave for work, he wants us to say bye now," Aloysius – presumably – blurted out breathlessly.

"Ah right, okay. Catch you guys later," Olivia offered with a wave, giving Vern a peck on the cheek and hurrying off with her brother.

"You guys still going strong?" Scorpius asked conversationally.

"Real strong," Vern confirmed with a blush and a nod to which Maurice averted his eyes darkly, no doubt thinking of his own, dead girlfriend.

"Hey!" Abby's voice called and they turned to see a girl with a long braid of blonde hair approaching with her boyfriend, Sequoia Pentakel, who had his arm around her. The Ravenclaw was tall and had numerous scars from the werewolf attack that Scorpius had saved him from, brown hair and sharp blue eyes. He was the Captain and Seeker so technically a rival, Scorpius had always found him to be friendly enough though, "How is everyone?"

"Fine," they chorused minus Maurice, who apparently had had enough of seeing couples.

"I've got to go help Cade with the trunks," Maurice said instead and went off to which Orous rolled his eyes, watching his brother leave darkly.

"How's August doing?" Vern asked of Abby.

"Alright considering," Abby admitted nervously, "Gabrielle does work as a Healer, she managed to get to him in time. He has scars where the chains burned him but the rest is healed, his hair is still growing back though so don't make fun of him for being bald or having no eyebrows."

"I wouldn't do that," Vern laughed, as did the rest of them at the memory of him shaving his hair off a few years ago to make Olivia feel less self-conscious about James cutting hers off. Except Pentakel, who wasn't part of the group and wouldn't understand.

"Erm… Am I missing the joke?" Pentakel asked worriedly.

"I'll tell you later," Abby assured him gently, rubbing his chest soothingly which drew Scorpius' attention to the myriad of badges. He was Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, a Prefect and… had a new badge.

"You made Head Boy?" Scorpius wondered in surprise and Pentakel grinned nervously as he nodded, "Congratulations."

"Thanks. I just wish my parents were alive to see," Pentakel sighed with a melancholy expression before recognition flickered, "Congratulations yourself, good job making Quidditch Captain."

"Orous did too."

"Well done," Pentakel offered the younger boy with a smile, "Guess we'll be shaking hands on the pitch soon. Good luck."

"Thanks," Orous nodded and returned the smile weakly, "May the best Captain win."

"As long as it's not Grozda," Abby pointed out and they laughed again, even Pentakel this time although Scorpius couldn't help but feel she hadn't meant it jokingly. She and Albus were not fond of the others' dates.

"What about Grozda?" Albus questioned, appearing beside Scorpius and making them jump. The middle Potter boy had his father's emerald eyes but not the glasses, his hair was jet black though and untidy too. He and Scorpius were the same height, this wasn't enough to match Pentakel though.

"Wondering if she made Head Girl," Pentakel lied as Albus folded his arms, glowering at the taller boy.

"Oh right, no, she didn't."

"Sequoia made Head Boy," Abby pointed out proudly and Albus seemed to resist the urge to scowl.

"Well Grozda doesn't need to be Head Girl, she's perfect and awesome just how she is."

"Where is she anyway?"

"Talking to her friends," Albus grumbled under his breath, eying Pentakel, "Don't you have friends to talk to?"

"I'm doing that, Abby's a friend too," Pentakel pointed out to which she smiled.

"You know Abby is just a nickname, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know what it's short for?" Albus asked of him confidently, Abby's face flushed scarlet and Pentakel looked somewhat uncertain.

"Abigail?"

"Nope! Its Abigaia," Albus confirmed happily, "Don't you think her _boyfriend_ should know that?"

"I erm…"

"Sequoia, could you help me with my trunk please?" a younger girl who bore a strong enough resemblance to him to be his sister asked.

"Of course," Sequoia agreed and gave Abby a kiss goodbye as he went with her, "I'll see you on the train."

"See Abby? He's all wrong for you," Albus pointed out as if it were obvious, Abby looked incredulous.

"What? Because I didn't tell him my embarrassing name?"

"Didn't you see his reaction? He didn't laugh at all! He has no sense of humor."

"Just because he didn't laugh at my name?! Maybe his sense of humor is just more mature than yours!" Abby protested irritably, "Not everyone has the maturity of a five year old-"

"I do not have the maturity of a five year-"

"You do too have the maturity of-"

"Err… Hi?" a small voice asked, effectively ending their argument and the group turned to the newcomer, "You're Michael's friends, right?"

It was a girl and not even a student, Scorpius recognized her as one of Michael's sisters. She looked around Antonius' age, her long dark hair was tied back in a ponytail and he thought she bore a strong resemblance to her mother. Or at least, half of her face did. The left side had been decimated by Greyback's claws, the livid scar lines tearing down from her forehead to her chin which destroyed half her mouth, one nostril and left grooves in the closed eyelid. Presumably the eye was beyond repair, leaving her with a lone azure orb on the good side. She was only his half-sister, Michael's mother – Crystal – had had him as a teenager then later had four children with her abusive – now dead – husband, Bob.

"Yes," Albus confirmed, looking taken aback at her speaking to them while she twiddled her thumbs, "And you are his… sister?"

"Agnes," the girl introduced herself.

"And what can we do for you, Agnes?"

"I erm… I just wondered if erm… may-maybe Michael had told you what I've done wrong to make him hate me?" Agnes asked nervously, looking very desperate, "I can't make it up to him if I don't know what I've done wrong."

"Michael doesn't hate you," Scorpius assured her and she looked extremely disheartened.

"He acts like he hates me."

"Agnes!" a gruff voice barked and Agnes jumped in surprise as her elder brother approached her, "Go back to Crystal, you know you're not supposed to wonder off."

Michael Sanford had once been the shortest of their number but he'd had a hell of a growth spurt the previous summer, he was taller than them all but part-giant Corin now. His soft childish features had hardened and he looked more mature, he had a scar running from his forehead to his cheek that Scorpius had inflicted on him accidentally back in their Second Year. That eye was a prosthetic and was golden as it picked up on his werewolf condition, the other was a dazzling hazel like his mother. His hair was a tangled mess of blond-brown hair flecked with red and an increasing amount of gray, his facial hair was new though as he had a full beard. He still wore the friendship bracelet Scorpius had given him, he also still wore a locket and dog tags that had belonged to his family.

"Merlin's beard, Michael, you have a beard!" Albus burst out in shock as he saw him, his jaw dropping, "Can't you have a summer where you don't dramatically change your appearance?!"

"Nice to see you too, Albus," Michael quipped before Scorpius embraced his friend.

"It's good to see you," Scorpius offered before they pulled apart, Michael smiled before noticing his sister.

"Agnes! What did I just say?! Go back to Crystal!"

"Sorry," Agnes muttered and scampered away, he noticed Albus patting his face as if expecting a beard to suddenly sprout.

"Any particular reason why you hate your sister?" Vern wondered curiously.

"I don't hate my sister," Michael insisted, looking surprised, "Why would you think that I do?"

"Because she came over to ask us if we knew what she'd done to incur your wrath, she thinks you hate her."

"I don't," Michael reiterated and hesitated a moment, "Maybe I've been a little distant with her but it's for their own safety, I'm a werewolf after all."

"How did you get a beard?" Albus asked, finally giving up patting his face, "I want a beard. Girls love beards."

"I don't know, it just… grew."

"But I'm older then you, why don't I get a beard?" Albus whined and Abby laughed, "What?"

"Just… nothing, you're so childish," Abby shook her head, "Come on, we should be saying goodbye to our families and getting on the train. It'll leave soon."

"I'm not childish," Albus protested as she went off in the direction of the plump Landlady he knew to be her mother, standing with a bald, eyebrowless teen that he could only assume was August, "How was I being childish?"

"Give it up, Al," Vern offered as he clapped him on the back.

He used it to lead his cousin away - while Albus continued to insist he was mature - to where Mrs Potter – and surprisingly, the Head Auror himself – was talking to Lily. He thought she'd gotten taller as well, she did look more like her mother with brown eyes and Weasley red hair but the unruliness of it was distinctly Potter as were the glasses she wore. Orous scurried over to where Maurice stood with the tall, bald firefighter he knew to be Cade Knox, the twins' widowed stepfather. It was actually a good thing, their mother had been a Shadow and had been as far from a loving wife and mother as she could get. It took him a second to realize he was alone with Michael, he pulled out the chip and handed it to him.

"From your aunt, she says if she can do it then you can," Scorpius told him while Michael studied it, he was surprised to see the blank coin formed lettering when his friend touched it so it read '9 hours.' This made Scorpius think of something, had it been charmed to show the last time the person who touched it had drank? It would explain why it was blank for Scorpius but not for Michael, it would also mean he'd been drinking much more recently then Scorpius would've liked, "Have you been drinking again?"

"Yes," Michael admitted quite readily and his tone became defensive when Scorpius' jaw dropped, "I never said I was going to stop drinking, just not while in Hogwarts. Check my trunk and bags or whatever if you don't believe me, I didn't bring any alcohol and I deliberately used the last of it last night. Wasn't even enough left to get me drunk. I'm not going to drink in school, don't worry."

"Is that why you didn't want to come to my house? Because you wanted to drink?"

"It might've contributed," Michael shrugged and Scorpius couldn't help but feel hurt, "I thought I was going to flunk my OWLs anyway, it's not like it mattered. There's always next year."

"Or Christmas," Scorpius pointed out and Michael tilted his head curiously to one side, "Since I did well on my OWLs I can have you over for the Christmas break. How did you do on your OWLs by the way?"

"An Acceptable for Arithmancy, two Outstandings for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures then the rest were Exceeds Expectations."

"Michael, that's great," Scorpius offered encouragingly with smile, momentarily forgetting his hurt and clapping his friend on the shoulder, "And you thought you'd fail."

"I did," Michael said seriously, "I couldn't even look at them, I was so nervous I couldn't even read the damn thing so I gave it Crystal to read and when she started to tell me I threw up all over the kitchen table. I'd gotten a muggle job cleaning dishes because I thought I'd not be allowed in the wizarding world when I failed my OWLs."

"Well you did it, you beat your Dyslexia for OWLs and you can do it again for NEWTs then you can get a wizarding job."

"When did you get so positive?" Michael scoffed, looking somewhat amused and Scorpius shrugged sheepishly.

"I guess I've just been having a good summer."

"Well that makes one of us," Michael sighed and the train whistled, "We really should say goodbye to our families now."

* * *

Pyrrhus Florian waited impatiently, pacing around the small kitchen. He was in a lousy mood, it had taken him a lot longer to recover from the injuries Alaric had inflicted then he'd wanted because werewolf wounds were unhealable curse wounds. The broken bones had healed by now and he had some nasty scars where his 'wing' had been torn by the claws, his shoulder still smarted though and he didn't have full mobility with it. He wasn't sure he'd ever regain full mobility, the bastard had almost completely severed his arm. Carver was on board with his plan though at least and even had drawn some of his half-siblings into helping, it was a small consolation considering how far he'd been set back. Damn Alaric, he'd pay for what he'd done. Pyrrhus had the perfect revenge planned for him. Not that that really helped in the current moment, he still had things to do first.

He was distracted by the sound of the door and immediately transformed back into a moth, flying out to watch the family returning from dropping the werewolf boy off to Hogwarts. There were four little ones, two girls and two boys. The middle two ran upstairs to play, the youngest went into the front room to watch TV and the eldest also went upstairs, just in a calmer fashion with her head hung and her expression melancholy. The mother went into the kitchen to start making lunch, that was who he was after and she'd just made it easy. She was only a few years older than he was, very beautiful with dazzling hazel eyes and milky skin. Her long hair was tied back, a blond-brown color with flecks of red and strands of gray. She was very thin, maybe even unhealthily so which was even weirder considering she'd carried five children.

She wore old frumpy clothes, probably to try draw attention away from her better features which he attributed to her abusive ex-husband. Either he'd made her dress that way in paranoia of her drawing the attention of other men and it stuck or she'd dressed that way herself to try keep her husband's attention off her and it stuck. She looked sad and stressed, he was just going to make her feel even worse. He did feel a pang of pity for what she'd been through – no one deserved that - and another of guilt for what he was about to do, nonetheless he had no choice if he wanted to end the war so his son could live in peace and she was a bad person anyway. Everyone was a bad person. He swooped down and reverted back into a human behind her as she went to open the fridge, he drew his wand.

"Crystal Sanford, I presume?" Pyrrhus questioned, she must've jumped about a foot in the air and as she spun to face him. She opened her mouth to scream and he struck her, more forcefully then he'd realized as he knocked her to the ground with blood trickling from her mouth. He could hardly apologize though, he needed to be threatening. He hauled her back to her feet and she gazed at him with frightened eyes, "I just asked you a question, I don't think that requires a scream. We wouldn't want to disturb your little ones after all so tell me, are you Crystal Sanford?"

"Yes," Crystal admitted fearfully but without screaming as he held her there against the fridge with one hand, the other aiming at her neck. He jerked his head to indicate it.

"And you know what this is?"

"Yes."

"So you know the things I can do to you with this?"

"Please, I'll do anything you want," Crystal pleaded as he met her terror-filled eyes, "Just don't hurt my children."

"Jack Thorne."

"What about him?" Crystal whispered and his attention was drawn to the dog tags she wore, he lifted them up with his wand.

"Whose are these?" Pyrrhus asked curiously as childish memories filtered back in.

"My Father's."

"He was a soldier?"

"He was a hero, died before I was born," Crystal told him and he let them drop again.

"I used to think that too, you know?" Pyrrhus commented to her thoughtfully, "When I was a child. I loved History, I used to think soldiers were heroes for keeping us safe, that they were good men and women, honorable, admirable. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I was wrong," Pyrrhus admitted and felt tears pricking his gritty eyes, "It's not admirable or honorable being a soldier. They hurt people, they don't protect them. It's a lie. Everything's a lie. There is no good and bad, there's just bad. Everyone is just bad."

"I don't believe that," Crystal whispered and he felt a spark of anger, he struck her again and she whimpered in pain as her head the fridge.

"Then you're a fool, Crystal Sanford, you should know that," Pyrrhus snapped at her as she looked back him with tears brimming in her eyes, "How many times have you been treated with kindness and how many times with cruelty? How many times was that kindness been done without ulterior motive? People are bad, people are _always_ bad. They hurt me, they hurt you, they hurt everyone."

"What do you want?" Crystal asked pleadingly.

"Jack Thorne."

"He's not here."

"But you know where he is, don't you?" Pyrrhus questioned and her eyes bulged in horror.

"No! No, I don't," Crystal insisted fiercely, sounding very genuine, "I haven't seen him in months and I have no idea where he went or how to contact him."

"Don't lie to me!" Pyrrhus snarled and struck her again, this time deliberately violently and she cried out in pain, "Where is Jack Thorne?"

"I don't know!" Crystal shrieked and he hit her again, and again on the other side to knock her bloody face back to him, "I swear I don't know! Please."

"How many times have you begged for mercy and actually been given it?" Pyrrhus questioned and when she didn't answer he struck her again, there was a crack as his fist collided with her nose. He knew it was broken, "Answer me!"

"Nub!" Crystal cried and he flicked his wand, snapping her nose back into place.

"What was that?"

"None, I said none!" Crystal sobbed, shaking in fear but he still held her there.

"Then what makes you think I will?" Pyrrhus asked her and struck her again when she said nothing, trying to avoid her nose because her words still needed to be understandable, "Tell me where he is or I can keep this up all day! If you get too badly hurt then I just can heal you and start again then heal you and start again, you're only prolonging your pain and wasting time I could be spending with my little boy! So tell me, where is Jack Thorne?!"

"I don't know!" Crystal insisted yet again and he rewarded her with a barrage of blows, he did feel a slight rush of power but it was overwhelmed by how sick he felt with himself and how much his heart screamed it was wrong. He hated it. And his hand hurt. He grabbed her to slam her back against the fridge and she flinched, tears streamed from her eyes mingling with the blood on her face. She didn't look beautiful anymore, "Bob, please, Bob, please."

"I'm not Bob!" Pyrrhus protested, "Tell me where Jack Thorne is!"

"Bob, please, Bob, please, Bob, please," Crystal kept pleading, her eyes half-squeezed and half-swollen shut as she stayed lost in her own little world. He threw her to the ground behind him in frustration.

"So this is what you do now, huh? Beat on defenseless women?" a familiar voice questioned and Pyrrhus in terror to his left, seeing his stocky, older brother standing there with his arms folded.

"You're dead, Joel," Pyrrhus pointed out fearfully, feeling extremely disturbed.

"I may be dead, Pyrrhy, but I still exist in your mind, in your memories and so I will be with you until the day you die," Joel explained as a cruel smirk crept onto his face, "Then you'll be in hell with me, baby brother, and I can torment you for all of time."

"Shut up, Joel, you're a liar and you're dead. I'm in hell, you're just nothing," Pyrrhus spat at him as he turned back to Crystal crying on the floor.

"So you gonna back to wailing on the hot chick here? I can get behind that. Reminds me of that fun game I used to play with you when we were kids, what was that called again? Oh yeah, 'Beat-the-Crap-of-Pyrrhus.'"

"I hated that game!" Pyrrhus snapped at his brother, turning back to him with tears pricking his eyes again at painful memories. Joel's smile only widened.

"I know, that's what made it so fun."

"Mummy!" a new voice cried.

Pyrrhus turned in terror, for a second fearing it was another hallucination but it was her son, the youngest. It gave him a new idea, he waved his wand over Crystal to heal her and instead strode over to the little boy. For a wonder, he didn't run but just stood there staring at his mother with fearful eyes and trembling. Pyrrhus grabbed his shoulder and turned back to Crystal who seemed to have been snapped out of her episode due to the healing, he pointed his wand at the boy who burst into tears immediately.

"You gonna hurt the kid now?" Joel wondered with interest as he walked back into view, "You know how much I love hurting kids, Pyrrhy. Reminds me of another fun game I used to play with you when we were kids, it was called-"

"SHUT UP!" Pyrrhus screamed at Joel, Crystal was frozen as she stared unblinkingly at her son, "Tell me where Jack Thorne is or the kid gets it."

"I don't know," Crystal repeated, slowly and precisely as if he trying to make it sound as clear as possible, "I swear, I don't know. I would tell you if I knew, that's my _son_. I don't know where Jack is, I really don't."

"Well that's rather unfortunate then because you're my only link to him so here's how it going to go, I'm going to take this little guy here and you're going to get in contact with Jack Thorne."

"No!" Crystal cried as tears bled from her eyes again, "Take me instead, just let Bertie go. He's four years old! He's innocent! Don't take my son!"

"Oh I'll give him back to you, don't worry," Pyrrhus assured her with a smile, "Every day that passes without you finding your boyfriend, I'll send you back a piece of little baby Bertie here. Find him for me and I'll give you him back as a whole, or whatever's left of him by then. And if you tell any kind of Law Enforcement or Gray then I'll give him right back in tiny pieces after killing him as painfully as possible."

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE JACK IS!" Crystal screamed at him and Bertie cried harder.

"Well you better find him then. And find him fast," Pyrrhus told her before disapparating with the little boy.

* * *

**Part 3: **The Train and Pain

* * *

Scorpius bade goodbye to his family and Molly before stepping back onto the Hogwarts Express, he went to get a compartment with his friends but found himself sorely disappointed. Abby, Michael, Maurice and Vern all had to go off to the Prefect's compartment and their train patrolling while Orous had apparently promised Lily he'd sit with her and her friends for the journey. The compartment felt rather empty with just him and Albus, they were joined by Rose Weasley and Corin Maxime-Hagrid who he'd missed on the platform.

"It's because of the extra security," Corin explained in his very deep voice despite being the year below him, he was Professor Hagrid's son with his ex-girlfriend who was Headmistress of Beauxbatons. Unlike his father, he was as skinny as a beanpole and clean-shaven, he had the same glittering black eyes and his hair was dark though and the wildness seemed tamed although he seemed to have let it grow a bit. Due to his part-giant heritage, he was very tall and inching closer to seven foot, "With the Shadows taking countries, it's a nightmare traveling between England and France."

"They insisted on going through all our stuff before letting us through and that was after going through it all to get onto the train in the first place," Rose complained, flicking her long, bushy Weasley-red hair back over her shoulder. She had the trademark freckles too and her father's eyes set in her mother's features, she hadn't changed a bit of the summer. She was dating Corin and had spent the last few weeks in Beauxbatons with he and his mother, hence why she had to travel back with him by train in one of the other platforms before coming onto Nine and Three Quarters, "It was most frustrating."

"Not as frustrating as the news they're cancelling the Triwizard Tournament," Corin said with a sigh, the last one had been four years ago and Abby's older sister had won it but it hadn't been held in Hogwarts so Scorpius hadn't seen it, "They think it's too dangerous with the Shadows. I was so looking forward to my Mother being around."

"Damn," Albus muttered with a scowl as he slouched back lazily, "I so wanted to enter that, my birthday's in October so I so could've. And I could've won too, just like my Dad."

"I don't think so, Al," Rose laughed to which Corin smirked and Albus threw a moody look at his cousin.

"So how was Beauxbatons anyway? As great as Corin claims?"

"Oh it was wonderful, you should see-" Rose started to answer enthusiastically but stopped as the compartment door slid open, revealing the sallow-skinned Slytherin girl that Albus was dating. Grozda Krum.

"There you are," Grozda greeted him with a smile, Albus sat bolt upright immediately as a grin filled his face.

"Grozzie! There's my wonderful, beautiful, uber-talented girlfriend," Albus greeted her as he jumped up to sloppy-looking kiss her on the cheek, she blushed either at the praise or the kiss, "You remember my-"

"Yes, of course. Scorpius, Corin and… one of your cousins Weasley," Grozda cut him off, nodding to each of them in turn, "I hope you had a good summer."

"I stayed in Beauxbatons, I was just about to Al about it," Rose spoke up, "Why don't you sit and join us?"

"Vell, that sounds interesting but I cannot," Grozda shot her down and turned back to Albus, taking his hand, "Come on, you can sit with me on the train and ve can catch up."

"Wh-Couldn't we do that here?" Albus wondered, looking slightly reluctant to leave them and Grozda looked taken aback for a second.

"Not if you vant our kisses to catch up as vell," Grozda offered lowly and Albus seemed surprised before grinning as he let her lead him out.

"See you guys on the carriages!" Albus called behind as if it was an afterthought.

"Can you believe her?" Rose moaned, slumping back and folding her arms crossly, "Slytherins are so selfish. First Lenore kept dragging Maurice away and now Grozda's got my cousin, honestly, what is wrong with people in that house?"

"Lenore died trying to protect the school and students," Scorpius reminded her firmly, feeling compelled to defend the dead girl and Rose at least had the decency to look a little guilty while Corin hung his head ashamedly.

"I know and that was brave and all but she was still annoying when she was alive. Not that she deserved to die or anything for it, it's sad and all that she died," Rose protested defensively, "So anyway about Beauxbatons, it was wonderful and you should see-"

"Hold that thought," Scorpius interrupted, getting the feeling he was going to have to hear what didn't begin like a very interesting account very much. Corin had told them many, many times before how wonderful Beauxbatons was in appearance and how it was done, "I'm really hungry, I'm going to see if I can find the Trolley Lady."

"Oh well, alright."

Scorpius got up and left without another word, sighing as he found himself alone in the corridor as the train chugged alone. He wasn't hungry nor did he plan on finding her, instead he scanned the compartments for signs of Orous. He did know Lily and her friends even if they weren't his own friends, with any luck they'd let him sit with them and if not then he supposed he'd have to just suck it up and listen to how beautiful Beauxbatons looked yet again. Thankfully he found them fairly quickly when spotting a compartment of light and red hair, Orous was sitting with Lily, Hugo, August, Lorcan and surprisingly, the younger Scamander twin as well. Nervously, he pulled the door open and the six heads swiveled in his direction.

"Can…Can I please sit here by any chance?" Scorpius asked politely.

"Sure," Hugo agreed readily, the mass of bushy red-hair moving up slightly to allow Scorpius to take a seat.

"Any particular reason why?" August inquired dully, he seemed to have put on a conical had to hide his baldness which would've been better if the hat wasn't too big and resting where his eyebrows should be.

"Rose started telling me about Beauxbatons so… Now I'm here," Scorpius explained truthfully, Hugo and Lily laughed.

"You should read her letters," Lily offered in way of explanation.

"It's actually good you're here," Lorcan spoke up in a gruffer voice then he'd had before, the anxious boy sounding unusually excited although he still had his wand in hand as always, "Lysander remembers."

"Lysander remembers?" Scorpius repeated, slightly confused.

"His abduction, he remembers."

"Oh, really?" Scorpius questioned, turning to the other twin who nodded sheepishly.

"When the Shadows came after Florian, they returned his memories."

"Why'd they return them?"

"No idea," Lorcan shrugged but didn't seem too concerned.

"Do you…" Scorpius started to ask of Lysander but decided against it, he wouldn't like to be asked to talk about his abduction after all.

"It's alright," Lysander assured him with a strained smile, his voice was smooth and softly spoken unlike his twin, "I don't mind talking about it."

"Are you sure?" Orous asked in a gentler tone and Scorpius noticed for the first time that he was holding Lily's hand.

"Yes. Not much to say really," Lysander admitted and took a deep breath, "After they took us from the park, they took Lorc away to the muggle because he kept fighting them and trying to protect me. You were so brave, I don't know why you didn't make Gryffindor like me because you're much braver then me."

"Because the hat fears being lit on fire. And with good reason," August quipped and shifted uncomfortably, everyone but Hugo and Lorcan looked at him in confusion. The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes, "Never mind, continue."

"So… they took me to this room. It wasn't bad, it was quite nice really. Fancy. There was a nice bed and an ensuite bathroom, the faucets all looked like they had the decoration engraved by fairies. I was handcuffed to the bed at night but at day I was free, well confined to those two rooms since it was locked but free. I could go to the toilet, bathe and get a drink of water whenever I wanted. It was only when I had company it was bad," Lysander continued and paused for a moment, taking another breath as if it this bit was harder to recount, "S-Sometimes they would bring me food, not a lot but sometimes. But most times it was bad. Half the time they would beat me, they'd always heal me before they left but it still hurt when it was happening. And in my memories of it happening. The other half the time they would use the Cruciatus Curse, that was… was not very nice."

"It's okay, Lys," Lorcan assured his brother and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, he managed one tap before his hand recoiled as if burned and he was breathing heavily, anxiety scribbled on his face. Lysander gave him a smile.

"Thank you, Lorc, even the smallest steps will shake away those nasty touch gremlins in time."

"And that's it?" Scorpius wondered curiously, drawing back the Scamanders attention, "I mean, I'm sorry you through that but why erase your memory?"

"I was really sad about it," Lysander admitted ashamedly, "And I missed my family, my friends and my home too. I use to cry a lot. Brutus Ashain took pity on me, he said I wouldn't have to remember if I couldn't cope with it so he took the memories away and they drifted like clouds."

"I guess maybe Brutus decided you were old enough to cope now?" Orous guessed, exchanging a look with Scorpius who could only shrug, "Wonder why he didn't want to erase our memories."

"Well your mind already got scrambled - you know like eggs? – when your soul got broken up so maybe he just didn't want to risk making you worse?" Lysander prompted and Orous shifted so uncomfortably that Lily gave his hand a comforting squeeze, Lysander apparently didn't notice, "Do you like your eggs scrambled, Orous?"

"No."

"A shame," Lysander admitted, sounding slightly disappointed, "I do. I think they taste lovely with ketchup."

The conversation shifted to more pleasant things when Hugo brought up Quidditch, an easy icebreaker and pathway to lighter things. They couldn't discuss anything more serious with Lysander there, he may remember and seemed to be making an effort to build bridges with his brother but that didn't mean he was automatically part of Gray. He still thought regaining his memories suddenly was a bit strange as well, was it really that simple? He wasn't going to trust him with things like that, he didn't even know if Lysander was interested. Scorpius didn't think he was based off the conversation, he was more interested in innocent things, a myriad of creatures that Scorpius was sure didn't exist and girls. Scorpius found himself starting to feel rather left out, Orous was friends with Hugo and dating Lily so knew them well and was more familiar with the others whereas Scorpius was not.

He excused himself the same way he had with Corin and Rose, deciding to just suck it up and listen to the beauty of Beauxbatons. However, he found they were snogging quite passionately and politely pretended he hadn't seen as he moved along. Now what? He glanced out the window, the sky had darkened by now which he took to be a good sign that they were possibly closer to their destination then to London. He went to the toilet for something to do despite being not being desperate but, it was on his way back that he heard it. A choked sob. He felt compelled to make sure the person was alright so he towards it, finding the source was a little girl standing out alone in the corridor.

She was a First Year, already in her unsorted robes that were actually quite shabby looking and ill-fitting as if they were hand-me-downs or had been bought second-hand. She had a wild, tangled mess of red hair that looked like it had never seen a brush, it hung loosely to her shoulders and fell over her face. She stood with her arms wrapped protectively around her, looking very alone and pitiful. She looked up when he approached her, revealing a delicate, freckly face and large, cloudy gray eyes that were red from crying.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't disturb you, did I?" the girl asked in a small, soft voice and looked almost frightened of incurring his wrath.

"No, it's alright," Scorpius assured her and gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, trying to figure out what to say next, "I'm Scorpius, what's your name?"

"Martha."

"Are you okay, Martha?" Scorpius asked her gently and she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "You shouldn't be standing out here crying by yourself."

"All the compartments are full," Martha told him, gesturing down the length of the train.

"You could try asking to sit with some people, maybe some other First Years."

"I tried but they laughed at my robes and I'm scared to try any others," Martha admitted, her eyes tearing up again, "I can't help it, this is the best my foster parents could afford."

"Where are your real parents?" Scorpius blurted out before realizing how stupid a thing it was to ask.

"I don't have a Mum and my Dad died recently."

"Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," Martha nodded and the tears dribbled from her eyes, "Sad thing is, he didn't even live there. He was just shopping."

"I'm sorry about your Dad," Scorpius said gently, hoping it made up for asking and she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve again.

"Thank you."

"Come on, Martha, let's find you a compartment," Scorpius offered, holding out his hand to her and her face screwed up fearfully.

"What if they laugh at my robes?"

"Then I'll jinx them into the middle of next week," Scorpius assured her and she gave the weakest of smiles before taking his hand.

He led her down the length of the train, glancing in compartments for signs of friendly-looking First Years for Martha to sit with. Finally, he spotted not exactly what he was looking for but close enough. Only one First Year girl but she was sitting with people he knew, he slid the door open and the three occupants turned to him. Byron Knight was a Slytherin but nonetheless a kindhearted boy going into his Third Year, he'd been a victim of James Potter's brutal bullying the previous two years and had a brother in Scorpius' year. His friend with him, Pollux Koray, was a Ravenclaw and son of the Astronomy professor who'd end up severely hurt standing up to James for Byron which left his lungs damaged. They were why Hogwarts was finally rid of the plague known as James Potter, he'd been expelled. The girl was new, she bore a strong resemblance to Pollux though and he'd guess a sister.

"Hi Scorpius," Byron offered kindly with a smile, he wasn't looking unhealthy thin anymore but he did still look tired. He was pale with straggly brown pair, a scar on his neck and was known to have two prosthetic legs due to the werewolves attacking Hogsmeade. Pollux was the one who looked gaunt and exhausted now, he eyed Scorpius with more pragmatic confusion. He knew them but they weren't friends, in fact he didn't think he'd ever spoken to Pollux.

"Hi Byron, Pollux and erm…" Scorpius trailed off as he looked at the girl, she – unlike Martha – wore pristine robes and had straight, shiny dark hair with some it tied back but long bangs. She was olive-skinned like her father and brother with the same deep, dark blue eyes.

"My younger sister, Auriga," Pollux provided in a rasp and the girl smiled nervously, "She's starting this year."

"Nice to meet you," Scorpius offered and gently pulled Martha into view, "This is Martha, she's also starting this year and doesn't have anywhere to sit. Any chance she could sit with you?"

"No problem," Byron agreed without a moment's hesitation.

"See, there's some friendly people in Hogwarts too," Scorpius assured Martha with another smile and the girl looked wistful before returning the smile weakly.

"Thank you, Scorpius, you're a good person," Martha told him before taking a seat beside Auriga, he turned to leave but Byron spoke again.

"And Sc-Scorpius, could you do me a favor?"

"Err… What?" Scorpius wondered in confusion and Byron shifted slightly, his expression saddening.

"Ju-Just be nice to my brother, would you? He's really stressed and I know NEWTs is supposed to be rough," Byron explained and gazed at him anxiously, Scorpius didn't see any reason to _not_ do so. His brother was alright and he had no idea if they'd even be in any of the same classes.

"Sure, if I see him."

"Thank you," Byron said with relief as Scorpius left, closing the door behind him and seeing Auriga had already started talking to Martha with a kindly expression. He hoped it was a good sign.

He continued on his way back to one of his friends and did actually run into the Trolley Lady, he bought himself a Pumpkin Pasty to not make a liar out of himself. She assured him they weren't that far from Hogwarts though, changing compartments had actually probably made him miss her. He rejoined Corin and Rose when he saw they were just chatting – and seemed to have lost track of time as they didn't comment on his long absence - and could focus on eating his pasty while Rose marveled at the beauty of Beauxbatons for him, he would definitely be hearing that later on. It was much warmer in their compartment then Orous' though, he had to open a window.

"Scor, I'm freezing," Rose complained when he did so and Corin immediately slammed it shut.

"I'm hot," Scorpius protested with a slight cough as the words caught in his throat.

"Deux beats un," Corin told him determinedly.

"I love when you speak French," Rose complimented him and giggled as Corin launched into a long French spiel to which Scorpius rolled his eyes, why had he not gone back to Orous again?

It was a really warm night, he didn't see why they could complain. Scorpius was relieved when the train finally pulled to a halt and he could head, he'd started to sweat by the time he had to make his way through the throng to get outside. He found himself walking on shaking legs, the heat was in his heat and making him dizzy.

"You okay, Scor?" Corin asked him as they made it out on the platform, the part-giant putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"The heat," Scorpius complained with a cough, his voice sounding raspier, "So stuffy in there."

"Sorry but Rose said she was cold, I had to be a Gentleman."

"Uh-huh," Scorpius muttered as another cough ripped through him, "Let's just get a carriage."

"Alright."

Scorpius wondered through the platform, trying to keep pace with his friends. The noise wasn't helping, all the loud people and Professor Hagrid yelling for First Years. It was all dark and disorientating. The cold hair was piercing and he found himself shivering violently before he'd finished reaching the carriages, he heard Rose laugh.

"Still think it's too hot?" Rose addressed him and Scorpius shook his head, it was half true. He felt cold. But hot too. He made to follow Rose in but was stopped, "Corin, Orous, Vern and I are in this one and it's already full. You'll have to get the next one."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded, almost collapsing as he stepped back out with a more violent fit of coughing overtaking him.

"You okay, mate?" Albus' voice offered and he felt his friend clap him on the back.

"Swallowed the wrong way," Scorpius croaked.

"You sure?" Michael's voice told him and Scorpius felt a hand pressed up against his forehead which was slick with sweat, "You're too hot."

"I'm fine," Scorpius coughed as he brushed it off, not wanting their return to be marred by him coming down with something.

"Oh my god, Albus, is that a hickey on your neck!?" Abby gasped and Scorpius tried to look up but felt too dizzy to see straight.

"Yes," Albus answered her proudly while Michael helped Scorpius into a carriage, "Grozda was _very_ happy to see me."

Being in a carriage helped, not having to stand eased his dizziness. He was still shivering and sweating, hot and cold wrestling inside him as if trying to decide which temperature he should feel. His cough was worsening as well, by the time they reached Hogwarts Abby and Albus' bickering conversation – that Maurice chose to ignore, not touching his necklace – had been drowned out by his coughing. His mouth, throat and chest were all feeling so raw they hurt as the five of them climbed back out of the carriage into the night. With that returned his dizziness along with the urge to throw up and he felt a strong hand grab his arm, he tried to turn to see who but the world spun well out of control and the hand steadied him.

"You're coming to see Marigold, right now," Michael told him gruffly, apparently the owner of the hand. Scorpius walked mechanically, allowing himself to be led into the light. He gave up seeing with his own eyes, everything was spinning so badly he had no clue.

"But I wanna see the Sorting," Scorpius complained in a hoarse rasp, he was curious where Martha and Auriga would go. He didn't care about the food though, he felt nauseous and weak, "During the feast."

"You can see it after you see Marigold, you need medical attention."

"Yes, Mother," Scorpius tried to quip sarcastically but getting the words out was difficult, they stuck in his throat and hindering air from reaching his lungs as he needed to start gasping for breath while his heart was pounding in his ears. He was so tired, his trembling feet so heavy, "Michael…"

Scorpius felt his body collapse, Michael and - probably – Albus tried to keep him walking but he couldn't take another step, he was too busy trying to breathe. Instead they laid him on the ground on his back which again quelled the dizziness, he saw a flash of purple light and recognized Michael's wand over him. He could see his friends' faces, he tried to stay focused on them as another violent fit of coughing kept him from passing out.

"What's wrong with him?!" Albus demanded as Scorpius' body started shivering more violently, he could feel sweat rolling off him in waves.

"His organs are failing," Michael told him, looking horrified while Scorpius just tried to breathe, "He's dying."

"Do something!" Abby shrieked as another light shone over him, Scorpius continued to shake helplessly. He felt as if he was drowning in his own sweat, he couldn't breathe.

"I-I can't!" Michael shot back, sounding horrified now, "He's been poisoned and until it's neutralized, I can't do anything!"

"It's not that far to Marigold, we-"

"He won't make it to Marigold! It's acting too quickly!"

"Save him, Michael!" Albus yelled, sounding on the verge of tears, "Don't you let him die, don't you dare!"

"This isn't helping!" Orous snapped, he sounded like he was crying but the world was too blurry to see.

He felt like his body was burning from the inside out as he drowned on the outside from icy water, he wanted to scream but his throat couldn't even let him breath let alone do that. Was this really it? Was he going to die? But… But he'd just been fine. He'd just been fine, he'd just had a good summer and he'd been fine. He hadn't stopped the Shadows yet, he still needed to stop the Shadows, he had to make things right. He hadn't even said goodbye. He didn't want to die.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What's happening?" Maurice questioned quite calmly.

"Maurice!"

"Move!" an unfamiliar adult voice barked in an unusual accent, "You all block the corridor, move out of my way! Is there not rules about this?"

"My friend's dying!" Albus' voice cried, he sounded like he was sobbing now.

"Oh do not be so overdramatized," the newcomer complained before apparently catching sight of him, "Or maybe you are not. Move!"

Scorpius heard a scuffling of feet and became aware of someone crouching beside him as his body arched painfully, his eyes rolling back into his skull and his scream silenced before it could leave his throat. He felt himself violently falling back, his feeble gasps for breath weakening. He felt something tearing at the clothing on his chest, freaking him out as he could only think of the muggles. He lashed out randomly and felt his fist hit something that muttered in a different language, it sounded like curses.

"Be calm. Do not hit me or I shall not save your life," the newcomer complained.

His arms forced to the ground magically and held there, he couldn't fight back as his chest was exposed to the air. He felt suddenly very afraid. Where his friends still there? Weren't they helping him? Was this a dream? A nightmare? He felt something thin and sharp touch his bare chest, a stick? A wand? He could feel it gliding over his skin, every mark sending a chill through him. He could hear alien muttering again, this time quieter and calmer, more like chanting rather than cursing.

"What are you even doing to him?" a voice that sounded like Rose's asked as he felt the stick leave him yet he was still very are of where the marks were, even as he could feel himself drifting.

"Everyone who is not me, be silent," the accented newcomer snapped and in the next instant, Scorpius felt something poured onto his chest.

He felt it crawling over the invisible lines left by the wand and the muttering returned, there was a sharp pain as the liquid seemed to slice into him. He couldn't scream but he felt it, he could feel the liquid moving around inside him, feel it running through his veins. It was not pleasant, it was like ice melting and making his blood run cold. So cold it hurt, so cold he almost didn't notice he was breathing again. Then it felt it retreating back, congregating in his chest again before it erupted out.

Scorpius screamed as he felt it rip back out of his chest, his body lurched and his eyes snapped back. He collapsed back onto the ground, breathing heavily and staring up at stars in the air despite the fact he was in Hogwarts and it wasn't the enchanted ceiling. The stars were not stars and clumped together back into a lump of liquid, shifting above him before it moved out of sight. His eyes would've followed it but he felt too weak to move, he just wanted to lie there and breathe for a minute.

"Sc-Scor, are you okay?" Albus' voice asked.

"I'm alive," Scorpius said slowly as this fact dawned on him too, relief washing over him.

"Great, now then the world can rejoice," the accented newcomer quipped sarcastically and Scorpius felt someone grab his hand to haul him to his feet, "Now get up."

"I'm still not feeling great," Scorpius admitted shakily as he stood on unsteady legs, still with the man's support.

"That is why you get up, you need to heal. Come on now," the newcomer insisted and Scorpius felt himself being led only to stop again, Scorpius could only stare at the ground as his stomach churned inside, "No. Everyone else, goodbye."

"But he's our friend," Michael's voice protested.

"I don't care, it is possible to walk to the Hospital Room without friends. Buh-bye now," the newcomer brushed it off and Scorpius swore he could hear him rolling his eyes, "And move! Are you English allergic to moving or what? Thank you!"

Scorpius felt himself being led again, he heard his friends offer their assurances of seeing him later and a scuffling of feet. By the sounds of it, a small crowd might've gathered to see his… episode. The sounds died away and then it was just him being led by his savior, at first he thought he was just going at a slow pace purely for Scorpius' sake but the sound of the man's footsteps were very uneven. With his eyes on the ground, Scorpius realized why. The man walked with an extremely severe limp, so bad it made Latimer look like a champion runner. Scorpius wondered why, then realized he was focused on a limp instead of the fact he'd almost died just moments ago.

"So I… I was poisoned?" Scorpius wondered, recalling the conversation.

"Yes," the man told him disinterestedly.

"Who tried to poison me?"

"I don't know, I was just trying to get food to eat when everyone is blocking the way because you are dying," the man explained, sounding almost annoyed by it, "I have no idea who you are, why would I know who tries to kill you?"

"I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius introduced himself.

"I will not know who tries to kill you from knowing your name," the man insisted and Scorpius thought he rolled his eyes again, "I know it was not me and that is all."

"Okay well then… What-What did you do? I thought I was going to die, I heard my friend say it."

"I put the liquid in you, the liquid bonds with the poison then I draw the liquid out, it takes the poison with it and stops it from further killing you," the man explained, "It undid some of the damage it was causing at the time but you still feel bad because it cannot heal the damage already wrought, that is why you need to heal still."

"And you just carry some of that poison-saving stuff around with you all the time?" Scorpius wondered curiously and the man gave an annoyed grunt.

"It has other uses then stopping poison," the man insisted as they came to a halt, "And this is your stop, Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius risked raising his head and saw that sure enough, they had reached the Hospital Wing. He turned back to his savior, opening his mouth to thank but froze when he saw his face. He was of average height with dark chestnut eyes and extremely dark auburn hair that looked to have dulled with age but was still thick, devoid of grays and wavier then any Ashain. For a second he had a vivid flashback of a memory, Ashylos' memory of his death and the young son. He was a small boy no longer, he could pass for Professor Ashain's brother. He was also no longer smiling and didn't look like it was a common occurrence, his expression was grim and his eyes were tired, his face worn. Still, Scorpius had no doubt he'd just been saved by Ashylos' last son. With a wave of soul-crushing guilt he saw the innocent young boy again, he'd saved his life _after_ Scorpius had destroyed his father's soul.

"Tell the Healer what occurred and he will see to you, Scorpius Malfoy," Ashylos' son told him obliviously before turning to leave, "Try not to get poisoned again."

"Wh-Where are you going?" Scorpius called after as he limped away.

"To get food, I told you. Unless someone other is dying in the way."

* * *

**Part 4: **Guilt Trips

* * *

"Agnes, I need to go out for a while," Crystal Sanford told her daughter seriously as she pulled out the pitifully few notes she had in her purse to give to her, almost surprised Agnes couldn't hear her thundering heart or the panic screaming in her ears, "Here's some money. Don't answer the door, don't answer the phone and if anyone comes for you then take your brother and sister out the backdoor. Go straight to the train station, get to London and go to the Leaky Cauldron because that's where I'll be."

"Why are you going to the Leaky Cauldron?" Agnes asked as she cautiously took the notes, looking very much like she was aware more was going on.

"Because I need to go to Diagon Alley. Do you understand what I told you?"

"Yes," Agnes confirmed as she pushed the notes into her pocket.

"Use what's there to feed the three of you lunch, dinner too if I'm not back by then. Make sure Ivy and Flynn are in bed on time, teeth brushed and that they haven't destroyed the house. Leave the lights off and close all the curtains as soon as I leave, do you understand?" Crystal continued, hoping she'd covered everything. That last thing she wanted was for something else to happen to her children while she was gone.

"Yes."

"That's my girl," Crystal told her with as much of a smile as she could muster as she hugged her daughter tightly, she was lucky to have such good children, "Stay safe."

"Where's Bertie?" Agnes asked in a whisper as she pulled away as if afraid to ask.

"That's why I'm going to Diagon Alley, to find him," Crystal assured her and saw a flicker of fear in her daughter's good eye, Bob's eye, "Just tell the others he's with me because he should be. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Crystal left her daughter without another word, not wanting to waste any more time as she got in her car and drove off. She truly did have no idea where Jack was, she hadn't seen him since he'd revealed what he'd done and she had no way of finding him. His apartment was rented to someone else now since he'd taken off and stopped paying rent, she'd tried his phone and a random man had answered, apparently he'd found it in the trash. Normally it might sound strange but Jack throwing his phone away after leaving them sounded perfectly plausible, he hadn't needed it after all. Considering what he'd said, she doubted Annie knew and had no idea where she was either. Her only hope was that there was some magical way to find someone, hence why she was headed to Diagon Alley. If Jack had meant what he said then he should be open to helping her get her son back and if he had… had lost himself then she had no trouble with handing him over to save her son, she had no idea what the man wanted with Jack anyway. Honestly, she didn't care. Saving Bertie was all that mattered right now.

_He wouldn't need to be saved if you weren't such a terrible mother!_ Bob's voice snapped in her mind and she flinched as she felt tears prick her eyes again, _How could you let this happen?! How could you let our child be taken?! How could you let that psycho take my son?! _

Crystal wiped at her eyes, as much as she would love to break down crying, she had to save her son. She had to at least try, she'd do everything in her power to. And driving to Diagon Alley was more productive then crying on the kitchen floor, she'd have plenty of time to cry after she'd exhausted all options.

_Oh, you mean when he's sending Bertie back in little pieces?!_ Bob's voice barked and she choked on a sob as she recalled the psycho's threat, _This would never happen if I was alive, I warned you everything would go wrong without me because you're a complete failure. This is your fault, Crystal, this is all your fault. If you weren't such a stupid slut then he wouldn't even think you know where Jack is. You're so stupid, weak and stupid._

"I know I am," Crystal muttered in agreement, wiping her eyes again as she pulled the car to a halt.

_And pathetic_, Bob's voice spat as she got out, fumbling to lock the car before heading into the magical pub, _Don't forget pathetic. I'm freaking dead but you're still scared of me, you still can't escape me. What is wrong with you?! No one else fears dead people, you fucking idiot! Every decision you make is bad, everything you do is stupid. It's no wonder Michael hates you_

Crystal tried to ignore it as she headed out into the courtyard where the Aurors were waiting, they searched and scanned everyone going in or out. She let them do it despite her discomfort with it all, answering their questions politely and pleasantly. They didn't seem to suspect anything, putting a brave face on might be one thing she didn't completely fail at. The voice was right though, she was pathetic and Michael did hate her. He avoided her these days, spending all his time in his room and staying away, if she spoke to him than he was always short with her and distant. He was upset and angry, her sweet little boy was gone. Not that she blamed him, Michael had every right to hate her and be upset with how his life was. She'd failed him probably worst of all.

_You did fail him the worst_, Bob agreed as the Aurors finished up and let her through, _You failed to even put a roof over his head, you failed him on a basic level, you failed to give him a stable environment, you failed to protect him from Robin, you failed to protect him from me, you failed to protect him from bullying and all the crap he goes through in Hogwarts. You're not doing much better with the little ones, you failed to protect them from being scarred for life by the werewolf and now you let that bloody psychopath take your baby boy! _

Crystal couldn't disagree and could only try put it out of her mind as she flitted around Diagon Alley, asking for a way of finding someone. She was disappointed to be having no luck, she'd been hoping for a magical solution but the best they seemed to offer was good luck charms and the magical version of a private investigator. If the man was after Jack and had come to them then she was sure he'd probably searched himself first, somehow she doubted another wizard would have any better luck, especially not in time for her son to be returned… intact. She wasn't sure she could afford that anyway, she was still struggling to make ends meet and buying school supplies had really cleaned her out.

_You really are a worthless failure, you stupid whore, _Bob's voice spat into her ear, _Every other mother in the world seems perfectly capable of providing for her children. And not letting them be destroyed physically, mentally and abducted. You can't protect them, heck, you can't even protect yourself_

Someone suggested she try Knockturn Alley though for some less commonplace solutions, she didn't see why not. Anything was better than nothing at that point. She located the alley and found it less impressive then Diagon, the buildings looked shabbier and it was darker. The people seemed darker too, most she passed where in dark cloaks and many seemed to be trying to cover their faces as if hiding they were there. The faces she did see didn't seem friendly either, glaring eyes and lips curled in sneers, murderous expressions through her way. It all made her very nervous, still she'd have to start asking them about finding someone too. She stopped outside of a "Borgin and Burkes" near a group of cloaked figures whispering amongst themselves, trying to decide which of the run-down buildings was a good place to start. Maybe she should just start here?

Before she could even turn back to the door, a hand grabbed her arm roughly and she tried to scream as fear stabbed through her heart but she couldn't. The world around her went back and she felt as if she was being forced through a tube, abruptly she found herself back in another alley and lurched as if to throw up. The hand steadied her and nothing came out, there was nothing to come out as she'd had to skip a few meals lately to make sure her kids were well fed. The wave of nausea passed and she remembered her situation, she pulled herself away from her attacker fearfully and surprised he didn't try stop her. He was a man with a course, lined face that looked so worn she wondered if he'd ever slept, his hair was brown and his eyes cerulean blue. He was dressed rather scruffily and like a muggle, his clothes were stained in dirt.

"Wh-What did you do to me?" Crystal tried to snap but it came out more as a fearful stutter, her fear starting to increase. He didn't look friendly.

"Saved your life, Bambi, so you can relax," the man offered darkly, "Knockturn Alley is not for muggles."

"H-How did you know I'm a muggle?"

"You make it so obvious, you're dressed like a muggle-"

"You're dressed like a muggle!"

"I can dress like a muggle because I have this," the man scoffed and yanked up his sleeve, showing a faded scar, a mark of a snake coming out of a skull's mouth, "You on the other hand, stick out like goat amongst sheep, so skittish and out of place. Stay away from there."

"I can't," Crystal admitted as the man pulled his sleeve back down, he rolled his eyes.

"Those people near you were just about to jump you, the only reason they hadn't yet is because they were arguing over how they should kill you," the man told her, looking unfazed while her heart skipped a beat, "The Ministry try to lessen the old prejudices but Knockturn Alley is where people with the old prejudices like to hang out, it's a dark place for dark people and dark magic. If you don't want to die then stay away and if you do want to die, there are better ways to kill yourself."

"But I have to go back," Crystal protested again, feeling her eyes tear up again, "It's my only chance, I need to find a way to find someone and I had no luck in Diagon Alley."

"Have you tried an owl?" the man wondered tiredly as he folded his arms.

"An owl?"

"They can find whoever the letter is intended for, unless the person put up magical defenses to avoid being found."

"Isn't that a bit slow?" Crystal questioned curiously as she bit her lip nervously.

"Depends where the person is and on the owl."

"Well what about if the person doesn't respond?"

"Put a tracking spell on the envelope, you can't use regular post owls for that though."

"My son took the owl with him to Hogwarts, I won't have it until he writes," Crystal pointed out unhappily and thought saw a flicker of grief in the man's eyes at the mention of the magical school, "_If_ he writes."

"I have an owl you can use," the man volunteered, "He's fast and well-trained."

"And you'd do that? Just let me use your owl?"

"No, but I'll_ give_ him to you then you can use your owl. You must take good care of him though."

"You'd just give me your owl for free?" Crystal wondered in surprise and the man shrugged.

"I have no use for him now and I don't care about money anymore, he's yours if you want."

"Will you do the tracking spell for me too?" Crystal asked, hardly daring to hope as she met the man's eyes.

"You realize it's illegal, right?" the man prompted and Crystal looked away for a moment, considering this and then considering her lost little boy.

"Will you do the tracking spell or not?" Crystal reiterated and the man cocked his head to one side for a second before nodding, "Thank you. You really have no idea-"

"I really don't care. Just hurry up," the man cut her off, already walking and she hastened to keep up.

"My name's Crystal by the-"

"You don't give people your name in Knockturn Alley, Bambi," the man interrupted yet again.

"We're not in Knockturn Alley," Crystal pointed out, quite truthfully as she realized she recognized the shops, "So what's your name?"

"John," the man admitted after a moment's hesitation, she was pretty sure it was fake though.

"Is that-"

"That _is_ my real name," the man insisted before she could even ask.

She fell silent and went with him, he insisted they go back through the checkpoint separately so no one would think they were together so she had to wait. It occurred to her that this could very well be a trap, he was from Knockturn Alley so he could very well be the one wanting her dead and luring her away. She also didn't turn away though, if it wasn't a trap then it was her best chance of finding Jack so she could save Bertie. She had to take the risk. She headed through after another person had gone after John as he'd instructed, exiting the Leaky Cauldron to find him waiting with a hulking, horned owl with black and white coloring and menacing yellow eyes. It squawked loudly.

"Here," John offered, handing her the cage along with a bag, "In there is the last supplies for him and some notes on caring for owls, there's also an envelope with a blank piece of paper in it. When you write your message, wear gloves and do not let the paper touch your flesh or it will track you not the person you're writing to. Send the message from your home so the owl will know that is where he should return to. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes," Crystal agreed uncertainly, surprised at how quickly it happened.

She opened her mouth to thank him and ask the owl's name but he disappeared with a sound like a thunderclap. Well… That was that. She bundled the owl into the car along with the bag and headed back, she'd write the letter and send it off as soon as she got home. Hopefully, Jack would be close enough for the owl to reach him soon. Crystal made it back home and carried the owl back into the kitchen, she was surprised to notice a small box on the kitchen table. She walked over, wondering whether one of the kids had left it or stupidly if John had put it there for the owl or something.

Crystal opened the box and screamed at its contents, almost dropping it and passing out in one breath. Her shaking legs gave way and she staggered back, slumping to the ground as sobs escaped her. It was a finger. A bloody, severed little finger. A four year old's little finger. Bertie's.

* * *

Scorpius still felt his head spinning and not from the poison as he went in to speak to the Hogwarts Head Healer, Marigold. He was a tall, thin man and looking rather odd with his hair half-white and half-black where he apparently had decided to abandon dying it but wait for it to grow out anyway. He grumbled a lot but Scorpius thought he had proved himself a good person, he'd lost a finger resisting when tortured for a way into Hogwarts too. Scorpius let himself be fussed over by Marigold, magicked and dosed with potions but he was paying little attention, instead letting his mind wonder to Ashylos.

_"…Did I ever tell you how I died?"_

_"No."_

_"It was during Grindelwald's early uprising, I was living in Europe at the time with my son, Rojer. The boy was seven, like I mentioned his mother died and I was raising him alone…"_

"Scorpius?!" Marigold barked, snapping Scorpius back to reality.

"What?" Scorpius wondered tiredly.

"I asked you if you've had anything to eat or drink today."

"Oh right, just breakfast and a Pumpkin Pasty on the train. Why?"

"Trying to figure out how you were poisoned," Marigold offered and pushed him gently back down with one hand while summoning a bottle of some potion with his wand with another, "I didn't say I was done, I'd like you to stay here for observation for a bit and I'll need to speak to Vipera. This should give you a good night's rest, give your body a chance to recover."

"I don't want to go to sleep," Scorpius complained as he kind of wanted to see the Sorting but drank the liquid after seeing the stern gaze on Marigold's face, he'd barely moved the flask away from his lips when he felt his eyelids becoming heavy.

_"What happened to your son?" Scorpius recalled asking the spirit._

_"I do not know. After death I was imprisoned wholly in the Scepter, I had and still have no way of knowing what became of him. He probably is dead. I had hopes of finding him or at least finding his fate after the Scepter business was dealt with, when I revived. Odds are I will never know now…"_

Scorpius was surprised to open his eyes and find it was the morning, he'd expected an uneasy sleep or at least dreams but got nothing. He was feeling physically better though, much stronger. Mentally though, the guilt hit him with the force of a speeding train. For what he'd done to Ashylos, for what he'd done to Rojer. Images of the happy child still overlapping the unhappy limping man, he didn't deserve to have had his life saved by the son of a man he'd killed. Or rather destroyed the soul of. A good man. Who'd helped defeat one of the most infamous Dark Wizards of all time, who'd been willing to sacrifice himself to save Professor Ashain, who'd been so brave in the face of utter destruction. And his son had saved him after that, after what he'd done. He felt sick with himself.

Marigold let him go that morning, it was Sunday so it didn't really matter as they'd not be starting classes until tomorrow. He trudged down to the Great Hall in misery, his feet finding the way even though his mind was occupied which he took to mean that his subconscious had a good grasp of the place even after having been away for the few months of summer. He spotted his clump of friends at the end of the Gryffindor table, they always needed to sit at the end near the teachers due to Maurice's deafness and needing to be close to translate announcements. They looked incredibly relieved to see him, Albus even hugged him.

"Don't ever scare us like that again, mate," Albus said seriously as he pulled away, clapping him on the shoulder as he did so, "W-"

"You'll never believe what I found out," Scorpius cut him off and they all leaned in to listen as he dropped his voice, "The guy who saved me, he was Rojer."

This didn't have the impact he'd hoped for though, they all stared at him blankly.

"You know, Ashylos' _son_," Scorpius emphasized, "The one who was a child when he died that I saw when he showed me the memory of his death."

"Ah damn, _that_ Rojer," Albus quipped sarcastically and slapped his leg in mock frustration, "We should totally have remembered that guy that _only you_ _saw!_"

"Yeah," Abby laughed but quickly stopped herself.

"I'm serious," Scorpius protested, "He's Ashylos' son."

"Did he tell you that?" Rose asked with an eyebrow rising.

"No but I recognize him and when I told Marigold that Rojer saved me, he seemed to know who I was talking about."

"Hehe, _Marigold_," Albus chuckled to himself.

"I'm serious!"

"Well maybe it's not Ashylos' son, Rojer is just one of those common wizard names," Rose offered with a half-shrug.

"He does have the Ashain features though," Maurice pointed out, much to Scorpius' relief, "They're pretty distinctive and strong standing."

"Thank you," Scorpius said with relief as he sighed, "He's Ashylos' son, I'm sure of it."

"And so what if he is who you think is?" Albus wondered and Scorpius could only gape at him, "He doesn't seem to know or care what you did to his Father, what does it matter?"

"It matters! I _killed_ his Father," Scorpius protested, dropping his voice again as he felt the guilt churning into his gut again, "I destroyed his soul."

"You, and Antonius, and Brutus," Corin reminded unhelpfully.

"Don't you think there are more important issues to worry about right now?" Michael asked of him, speaking for the first time and looking the most anxious.

"Like what?" Scorpius complained and Michael looked incredulous, as did most of his friends.

"Like who tried to kill you!" Michael snapped at him angrily, "You nearly died, don't you get that? You would have _died_ if that guy hadn't walked in and done his voodoo magic, there was nothing I could do, nothing any of us could do."

"Oh, who cares about that?" Scorpius brushed it off dismissively, "There's a war going on, people are always trying to kill me. Rojer is the thing to worry about here, what am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Albus insisted.

"Why would you need to do anything?" Maurice wondered and Scorpius felt like slapping his face in exasperation, why was he the only one who could see how big a deal this was?

"Because I _killed_ his Father," Scorpius protested as the guilt prodded at the tears in his eyes, "I took away his only parent and then he turns around and saves_ my_ life. I need to apologize and make it up to him, tell him the truth."

"You saw this kid when Ashylos showed you his physical death, right?"

"Right."

"And Ashylos was killed by Grindelwald's men a few decades ago, right?"

"Right."

"So what does it matter if you destroyed his soul? Rojer had already lost his Father decades before you wiped out his soul, you didn't take his Father from him," Maurice pointed out quite rationally, "Rojer was an adult long before you were even born, your actions had no effect on him so you really have nothing to obsess over or any point in mentioning it to him. It doesn't matter. Your assassination attempt on the other hand…"

"I don't care about that! This Rojer thing is serious, how am I supposed to face him in class?"

"He's not a teacher," Corin told him, much to Scorpius' confusion, "He wasn't at the staff table or introduced or mentioned, reckon he's the new assistant to replace Calderon."

"So did they find out anything about the poison?" Abby pressed, apparently everyone but him determined to gloss over this majorly important thing, "Did Marigold say anything?"

"I didn't ask," Scorpius admitted glumly as he went to put food on his plate for breakfast.

"Well why not?" Albus complained.

"I told you because I don't care! I'm more worried about this Rojer thing," Scorpius insisted and paused despite himself, how did he know his food wasn't poisoned?

"No, you're just on a guilt trip about Ashylos," Michael prompted and looked between him and his plate, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Not hungry for more potential death."

"Alright," Michael nodded and switched plates with him just like he'd done back in their First Year when Scorpius hadn't wanted to eat, "There, mine is half-eaten and I'm not dead yet so it's not poisoned. Or its slow acting, then we're both dead. So eat up."

"Thanks," Scorpius offered and smiled despite everything as he looked at his friend, a sliver of the old Michael that made him all the more determined to help him.


	3. Chapter 3: Searching

_**Parts (8-12)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 3  
**

Searching

* * *

**Part 1: **Scheduling In

* * *

Crystal was a nervous wreck, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat - if she tried, she just threw it back up as soon as Bertie's limbs crossed her mind - and she'd been sent home from work because she was so unfocused she was all but useless. She didn't blame them, her mind felt paralyzed and thoughts had to make it through the thoughts of Bertie clogging her head and the deafening beat of her heart. His finger had come Saturday, his ear had come Sunday and a toe on Monday. She put them in ice and kept them in the freezer, hoping - likely and stupidly in vain - he'd be returned in time that they could be reattached.

She didn't know how they got there, she would just return to the kitchen and find it there on the table. On the inside of each lid was an address to send Jack to when she found him, unfortunately she hadn't heard back from Jack or the owl yet. She almost broke down crying as she picked other three to school that day, it should have been Bertie's first day. The fact the others were starting to ask more questions didn't help either, she was glad when it was their bedtime finally. Then she could just sit anxiously in the kitchen, staring out the window waiting for John's owl to return or Jack to show up or.. something.

"Crystal Sanford, is it?" a voice questioned and she jumped about a foot in the air, spinning to see more strange people in the kitchen.

There was a teenage girl with red hair, freckles and muddy brown eyes accompanied the speaker, a man in his forties with steely gray eyes and messy dark brown hair spattered with grays. He had a vivid scar across his face, running diagonally from the right side of his forehead above the eye straight through to the far side of his left cheek. Did they work for the red-haired man?

"I don't know where Jack is!" Crystal blurted out desperately, why was that so hard to believe?! The man struck her - hard - and she fell back into the chair with her eye now stinging and fear filling her yet again as memories of Bob flashed in her mind, he flicked his wand and the arm rests wrapped themselves around her wrists to keep her in place.

"We're not looking for Jack Thorne," the man growled as he stepped forwards, the girl stood watching blankly, "We're looking for Pyrrhus Florian."

"Who?" Crystal wondered in confusion and the man struck her again.

"_Pyrrhus Florian_," the man repeated more slowly and clearly, as if that would make her suddenly know it.

"I still don't know who that is!"

The man jabbed his wand at her and there was a flash of red then Crystal felt pain shooting through her, every fiber of her being felt as if thousands of red hot drills were boring into her body. She could hear herself screaming and her bound body trying to writhe against the pain.

"Stop!" a girl's voice cried abruptly and the pain stopped, receding waves still washing over her and her body shook against her will. She saw it was the teenager who'd spoken, she felt a flicker of hope the girl might not be so bad.

"You wanted to be a witch, if you want to learn magic from us then you better stop being so soft," the man informed her with a smirk.

"I'm not being soft, Selwyn," the girl scoffed, stepping forwards and folding her arms as if offended, "I feed of pain now, remember? She was in more pain when you hit her, physical _and_ emotional pain. It tastes juicier if you beat on her, you'll get more information that way too."

"I don't know who Pyrrhus Florian is!" Crystal cried and the man she'd called Selwyn lashed out at her again and again, she tasted blood in her mouth after the first blow and memories of Bob blinded her vision.

"And just to be clear," the girl interrupted and Selwyn stopped, Crystal tried to look through bleary eyes trying to swell shut to see the girl throw him a dark look, "I didn't say to stop beating her, I'm hungry."

"I don't take orders from you, they hear better this way," Selwyn insisted.

"Pyrrhus Florian is a youngish kind of guy, lanky and nutty with red hair - darker shade then mine - and purple eyes. Do you know who _that_ guy is?"

"Yes," Crystal confirmed, trying not to nod but her throbbing head objected, "H-He was here. He was looking for Jack."

"Why?" Selwyn demanded.

"I don't know why," Crystal offered and he hit her again, she saw stars as her head hit the back of the chair, "I don't know why! He didn't say! He just wanted to find him and thought I knew, h-he took my-my son. My li-little boy, s-said he'd send him b-back in pieces if I d-didn't find him."

"And you don't know where Jack is," Selwyn mused as she'd said as much earlier, the girl started checking the fridge and freezer.

"She's right, there's body parts," the girl confirmed, looking visibly upset as she closed the door, "That's horrible."

"But effective. I bet you're trying to find Jack for him now, aren't you?"

"Y-Yes," Crystal stammered out, just as Ivy ran into the kitchen.

"Can I have a glass of water, pl-" Ivy froze as she saw the strangers, fear filling her little face.

"Run, Ivy!" Crystal screamed at her and Ivy turned on her heel to do so.

"Stop if you don't want me to hurt your Mummy," Selwyn offered with another punch and Ivy froze immediately, "You don't want me to hurt your Mummy, do you?"

"No," Ivy whimpered and turned back, tears in her eyes. Crystal opened her mouth to insist she run but Selwyn clamped his hand over her mouth to silence her, "Please, don't hurt my Mummy."

"Then do as I say and come here," Selwyn commanded and Ivy walked over obediently, he let go of Crystal's mouth to take Ivy's hand, "Now... Ivy, was it?"

"Yes."

"Ivy is going to come with us for a little bit," Selwyn told her as he walked back over to the teenager, he flicked his wand and the chair let Crystal go, "If you want her back whole then find us Pyrrhus Florian, we'll check in daily."

"NO!" Crystal screamed desperately, jumping up uselessly but the girl put her hand on Selwyn's shoulder and the three vanished into the darkness. She sunk to the ground where they'd just been, sobbing.

_Fuck's sake_, Bob's voice spat in her mind and she flinched violently in terror, stupidly expecting him to be there to continue beating her or worse, _Can't you do anything right?! Now you've lost two of them!_

* * *

Scorpius spent most of the Saturday 'relaxing' - he shut up about it but inwardly the guilt gnawed at him - because his friends seemed determined to keep an eye on him - although he did use this to his advantage to let Michael search his trunk for alcohol, thankfully he found none - after his poisoning, the rest of the time he spent practicing his animagi training. He transformed somehow every try without fail now, not completely yet but something was always happening which was both more tiring, sometimes painful and a good sign he was closer. He fell asleep to strange nightmares he could only half-remember regarding Ashylos and Rojer, waking early and in a sweat. He was the only one up although Michael's bed was empty, murky orange light filtered in through the curtains.

He decided to just go ahead and get up, not even wanting to attempt trying to get back to sleep with more nightmares. He'd just have to try put it out of his mind. He got washed and dressed, finding it a strange feeling to have to pin his Captain badge onto his robes. Especially since he was so used to seeing it on Molly, he was the Captain now though. He pulled out the Map - the Marauder's Map, that was - which showed where most people were in Hogwarts, checking Michael's location and found him already in the Great Hall as expected. He also couldn't help but scan for a different name and found a dot labelled simply 'Rojer' in one of the disused towers, about as far removed from anyone else as one could be in Hogwarts. He supposed it made sense, Ashylos hadn't seemed to have a last name and must not have given Rojer one. It only further nailed in that he really _was_ Ashylos' son. Sighing unhappily, he put the map away and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Scorpius?" a small voice questioned just as he was about to enter the Great Hall. He turned to see it was Martha, the girl from the train who was now adorned in Hufflepuff robes.

"Hi Martha," Scorpius greeted her pleasantly and mustered a smile, "How's things?"

"Well, I made Hufflepuff," Martha offered nervously, gesturing to her robes, "Did not expect _that_ but erm... it's alright, the Common Room is pretty neat and Auriga says it doesn't matter that she's in Ravenclaw, we can still be friends."

"Of course you can be friends with other houses, I have friends in Hufflepuff in fact," Scorpius assured her and she looked a bit more at ease, "Vern Dursley, the Hufflepuff Prefect is one of them even. He's a decent guy so if you need anything then he's someone who'd be happy to help."

"Thanks, he seemed pretty nice," Martha nodded and returned his smile for a second before worry crept back in, "Are you okay? I-I heard you were poisoned or something?"

"I was but its okay, I'm okay now. Someone saved me."

"That was lucky. It's scary to think you might've died so suddenly, you seemed fine before."

"Well these things happen but the important thing is that it's over and no one got hurt," Scorpius brushed it off.

"Did they find out who did it?"

"No."

"Then it might not be over," Martha protested anxiously, "What if they try to kill you again? Or what if they try to kill someone else?"

"Then we'll catch them," Scorpius reassured her as her large, cloudy gray eyes focused on him worriedly, "Hogwarts is pretty safe. Now we're here, it'll be harder for anyone to get to me or you or anyone else. The staff aren't going to let anything happen, Martha, please try not to worry about it."

"I'll try," Martha agreed as she took a deep breathe, Scorpius patted her on the shoulder gently and tried to give a reassuring smile that she somewhat returned.

"So are you looking forward to your classes tod-"

"Hey Martha!" a vaguely familiar voice called and Scorpius glanced to see Auriga Koray rushing over on her way into the Great Hall as well, she came to a halt and noticed him with her expression switching to concern, "Hi Scorpius, how are you doing?"

"Alright," Scorpius assured her and Auriga smiled at this.

"Good. My Father says they're trying to find out the person who did it so don't worry, my Mother is Deputy Head of the Department of Law Enforcement and she will make sure justice is served."

"I'm sure she will," Scorpius nodded along in agreement, "Good luck with your classes both of you."

The girls chorused their thanks and they went their separate ways, Scorpius joining Michael at the Gryffindor table. He was still trying to get used to the beard, it had only taken him all of last year to get used to the height and voice. Michael paused when he joined him, only going back to his own food when Scorpius started pulling some food onto his own plate.

"You okay?" Scorpius wondered of his friend and Michael gave a semi-shrug.

"You almost died. You may not care about that but I do," Michael pointed out seriously, dropping his head onto his palm, "I need a drink."

"You need to _not_ drink," Scorpius insisted determinedly, "You know, Annie's doing great sober."

"Well good for Annie," Michael offered and scratched at his beard with his free hand, "Still feels weird to have this."

"Then why not shave it off?" Scorpius wondered and to his surprise, Michael's face reddened in embarrassment which made him seem immediately younger.

"I don't know _how_," Michael admitted under his breath.

"Why didn't you ask..."

"Who?" Michael scoffed incredulously, "My_ mother_? My little siblings who haven't even hit puberty yet? There's not exactly an abundance of options."

"Hey guys!" Albus called cheerfully as he plopped himself down beside them, effectively ending their conversation as he starting piling his plate high, "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Eating breakfast," Scorpius added and Albus nodded vaguely as he started drowning his mountain of food in ketchup.

"You seem glum today," Albus commented to Michael who gave another semi-shrug, "Do you know what you need?"

"A drink?" Michael guessed and ignored the venomous look Scorpius threw him.

"A girlfriend," Albus corrected to which Michael rolled his eyes, "I'm serious! Michael, it would change your life and cheer you right up. You'd be drunk on love! I used to feel hopeless too and then I met the future Mrs Potter, if it could happen for me then it can happen for you."

"I don't want a girlfriend. I'm _sixteen_ and I'm a werewolf."

"Nonsense. Werewolves are just as entitled to love as the rest of us and it is my mission this year to get you a girlfriend."

"I don't _want_ a girlfriend, Albus," Michael insisted seriously with a hint of irritation as Albus shoveled a forkful of food into his mouth, he opened his mouth to reply, "And don't you dare speak with your mouth full!"

Michael remained vehemently opposed while Albus seemed convinced it would help his friend, thankfully the arrival of the others seemed to put an end to the conversation. For once Rose's... loudness seemed to come in useful as it changed the topic to what she wanted to talk about, NEWT classes. Scorpius was actually looking forward to it, he was distracted by a small body though.

"Scor!" Cassia exclaimed as she threw her arms around him, he barely had time to register his surprise before the now apparently green-haired child let him go to glare angrily as she folded her arms, "What the bloody hell were you thinking?! You get poisoned and then don't bother seeing me and Antonius so we'd know you got better okay? Aren't we still friends?"

"I'm sorry, I was just... busy," Scorpius offered lamely, surprised at her reaction.

"Busy with what, your day off?" Cassia wondered and Albus chuckled, Scorpius threw him a dark look.

"What?" Albus complained, quickly swallowing first to avoid another reprimand from Michael, "Kid's got a point."

"Damn straight, I got a point. Antonius was worried sick."

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't think," Scorpius admitted and Cassia shrugged, her rage over as soon as it began.

"Well use your brain next time, jerkface," Cassia told him and turned to leave but Scorpius grabbed her back as something occurred to him.

"Cassia, wait!"

"I'm sorry I called you a jerkface, if I didn't like you and was really mad then I'd have called you worse," Cassia pointed out immediately, "Like actual worse. Aurors have worse mouths then teenagers."

"I don't mind about tha- The Aurors are still patrolling the grounds?" Scorpius changed his sentence halfway through and the girl nodded, on one hand he supposed it was good but on the other he felt a pang of disappointment considering the Shadows, "Can you tell me anything about them?"

"Erm... They keep mostly outside patrolling the grounds but some of them are chattier, Syntyche Cistro is in charge of them," Cassia recounted thoughtfully as she scratched her chin, "She's a bitch. Daddy hates her and she hates Daddy. She hates us too and she hates birds, doesn't like us interfearancing with her Aurors and thinks we stole a wand holster for no good reason."

"What about the other new staff then?"

"The new Headmaster is Laurence Winthrop, some Ministry stiff who worked in the Department of Education. We call him Weedy Larry because he looks like a weed and pops up like one too."

"Cassia, you should some respect for your elders!" Rose snapped at her.

"What?" Cassia complained as she crossed her arms again, "I have respect, people just have to deserve it. If you treated all-growed ups with respect then you'd have to treat Shadows with respect and they don't deserve and neither does Weedy Larry! Or Syn the evil bitch."

"And someone should wash your mouth out with soap for your language!"

"Hey, I think my English language is pretty fucking great thank you very much."

"Moving on, who else is new?" Scorpius interjected.

"Penny Durante is the Transfiguration Professor, she's so nice and sweet and lovely," Cassia told them, brightening up, "And be nice to her, this is her very first time teaching and she's a bit nervous but she is super talented and good. She was practicing on us."

"She's hot too," Albus commented with a wink in Michael's direction, the werewolf rolled his eyes.

"And then there's the new Caretaker, Grace Warren, who is mega grumpy so I'd stay the hell away from her if I was you."

"What about Rojer?" Scorpius questioned curiously.

"I'm not sure about him," Cassia admitted thoughtfully, "He likes to stay by himself and can be grumpy too but he's nicer to me and Antonius if we're alone, I think he just doesn't like people very much and Avaris thinks he's just scared of them because people can be scary. He saved your life though, oh and you'll never guess what."

"What?" Albus wondered curiously and Cassia looked around as if to make sure no one was listening before leaning in closer and dropping her voice.

"He can talk to birds too," Cassia told them in a whisper, "He pretends not to but the birds know he can hear them."

"Cassia, why don't you go sit with your Father?" a new voice offered and Scorpius nearly jumped as he noticed Professor Longbottom had come up to them. Antonius was also coming over to them, "I need to speak to them about their classes, Sixth Years are the most complicated."

"Okay, come on," Cassia agreed and took her brother's hand, pulling him away before he could speak to them to go join Professor Ashain at the staff table while the professor gave Corin his schedule quickly since he was the lone Fifth Year now Maurice was skipped ahead.

"So let's start with you Rose, you wanted to continue in all of the core subjects, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well you got Os and Es for everything but History of Magic, I'm afraid Binns only accepts passing grades to continue onto the NEWT level. Do you want just the six or one of the electives?"

"I'll go for Muggle Studies, that's useful with Ministry work and an Outstanding should be alright for Oring?"

"Absolutely," Professor Longbottom nodded and flicked his wand at the schedule before handing it over to Rose, "Rivers, you got Outstandings for everything so you can really have your pick. Do you still want the subjects you chose before?"

"Yes, Sir," Maurice confirmed and the professor tapped his wand on the parchment, handing the timetable over to the younger boy.

"Albus, thankfully only Exceeds Expectations is acceptable for all the subjects you wanted," Professor Longbottom told him as he moved on, "Except for Transfiguration, Professor Durante has lowered the bar but a Poor is still not going to cut it. Oring and Koray both accept Acceptables though and Hagrid is fine with an Exceeds Expectations, Binns doesn't take Dreadfuls though. I'd recommend Care of Magical Creatures, it's your highest mark."

"No way!" Albus scoffed, "I love Hagrid but I also love living, I'll take Astronomy."

"Are you sure? Muggle Studies has more applications."

"Nah, Astronomy is more interesting," Albus insisted and the professor obediently flicked his wand over the paper, handing him his timetable and not noticing as Albus muttered under his breathe, "And easier to sleep through."

"Abby," Professor Longbottom moved onto his daughter, both of their faces flushing in awkward embarrassment, he cleared his throat nervously, "Well you got Outstandings in Charms and Herbology so you're fine for them, Ashain is alright with Exceeds Expectations as well. You flunked Potions and Transfiguration though, you'll need other choices. You're good for anything else except History, which you also failed. I'd recommend the electives at least."

"Okay, Arithmancy and Muggle Studies," Abby told him and her father raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're only going to take five subjects?"

"I'd rather focus on a few then take more than I can handle," Abby offered nervously and her father's face didn't betray how he felt about this, "Unless I can take Alchemy?"

"No, Voltur wants passing grades in Potions and Transfiguration," Professor Longbottom shook his head, "At least take Astronomy or Care of Magical Creatures as well, six? Meet me halfway, Abby, I know you can do it. Your sister took seven."

"I'm not my sister. And you already knew I was going to take five."

"That was before you failed three subjects, I don't want you to fail at life as well."

"Dad..." Abby muttered, looking upset and embarrassed at the same time. Professor Longbottom sighed and flicked his wand over her schedule, apparently relenting as he handed her the timetable, "Thank you."

"It's your choice," Professor Longbottom informed her and moved on, "Well, Michael, you passed all five subjects you need for Healer and the passing grades in Transfiguration and Potions is enough for Alchemy."

"What? No, I don't want to take Alchemy," Michael protested anxiously, "I just put my name down because Maurice said it and I thought I'd flunk out for sure. I want to take History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures instead."

"You can't, you already put your name down for Alchemy. You can drop the subject once you've started it but you need to at least go to the first lesson or it'll be cancelled for everyone because of a lack of numbers."

"Well can't I do that and be put down for them two instead?"

"No, you can take one of them and Alchemy then drop Alchemy and have six but you can't replace it. I'm sorry," Professor Longbottom told him apologetically and Michael sighed heavily, "Would you like to do that or just stick with what you had?"

"Put me down for Care of Magical Creatures then," Michael sighed and the professor waved his wand over the schedule before handing it to the disappointed boy who scanned it with a scowl, "Why do we have to have double Alchemy every freaking day?"

"Because it's a new subject with a lot to learn," Professor Longbottom pointed out and Michael sighed yet again as the Head of House moved on to Scorpius, "Well your grades are certainly good enough for whatever you want, you got five Outstandings."

"You got five Outstandings?!" Rose burst out incredulously and Scorpius nodded, she slumped back disappointingly, "I only got four!"

"I got none," Albus offered unhappily, "Even James got_ some_."

"I got eleven," Maurice spoke up smugly, "And I'm a year younger then all of you."

"Yeah but you're some inhuman super soldier who knows everything."

"You all passed, it doesn't matter who got what," Professor Longbottom pointed out before turning back to Scorpius, "You passed Potions and Transfiguration so you're good for Alchemy.

"Good, I wanted Alchemy. And I'll take all the subjects I got Outstandings in," Scorpius told him, knowing they were all subjects he quite enjoyed which left just one slot and he wanted - and needed, considering he didn't have a career plan - a full schedule, "And one more."

"Potions is your best bet, it has the most applications and Vipera is fine with Exceeds Expectations."

"Does Professor Kresmir accept Exceeds Expectations for Study of Ancient Runes?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll have that," Scorpius decided in relief that he could take it, "I like Runes."

"Are you sure? Potions may be the better choice here, the core subjects are core for a reason."

"I'm sure, I'd rather take subjects I enjoy."

"Alright," Professor Longbottom agreed and tapped his schedule, handing it to Scorpius, "Good luck."

"You should've taken Potions," Rose insisted testily as the professor left.

Scorpius shrugged disinterestedly as he looked over his schedule, noticing the increase in double lessons and more space then he'd had since before electives. He did indeed have double Alchemy daily as Michael had noticed, except Thursday it was always the last class before dinner as well. He was slightly disappointed to realize he'd be with his friends less, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology were the only subjects they were all taking. He'd have Michael and Maurice in every class but Study of Ancient Runes though, Rose was also in Transfiguration as well. Abby would be alone for Arithmancy too, she and Rose alone in Muggle Studies, Rose and Albus alone in Astronomy then he and Abby would be absent for Potions that the other four were all taking.

He was quite disappointed to see the week got off to a crappy start with double Charms with Grant, he despised Grant and the feeling was mutual although not as bad as it had once been. Still, he had tortured Scorpius' favorite professor and locked his friends in to do die with werewolves, his son may be a good guy but Grant wasn't. The lesson wasn't even interesting, Grant spent most of the class waffling on about the importance of NEWTs and a bit about what they'd be doing that year then had some doing some easy spells they already knew to make sure they were confident in them because next lesson would be attempting them nonverbally. Double Care of Magical Creatures after it was better, although strange to just be with only Michael and Maurice - the girls had Muggle Studies while Albus had a free period - in a much smaller class. Professor Hagrid gave a speech not dissimilar from Grant's, however he did actually let them get on with some work as well as he introduced them to some Kneazles which was surprisingly tame but he supposed half the lesson had been wasted with the speech.

After that was lunch then Double Potions for his friends - except Abby, who had nothing - and Double Study of Ancient Runes for Scorpius, he almost regretted his decision due to the lack of his friends. He spotted Byron's brother in the class though and sat beside him as he remember what he'd promised the boy, not that it mattered as Professor Kresmir also gave a speech about NEWTs with the added challenge of having to write down what he was saying in Runic to get back into the swing of things so it was more slow going but more fun. Professor Kresmir had a way of making the subject come alive, Scorpius didn't think he'd like it as much if he didn't have such a great teacher. After that was a break for them all then a single Herbology, Professor Longbottom only had time to talk about the importance of NEWTs with the lesser amount of time. Still, Scorpius wondered why they all felt the need to waste a lesson giving such similar speeches, did no teacher just want to teach? After that was another break then Alchemy and Scorpius would be done for the day, Albus and Rose would have Astronomy every night but otherwise it was over. And so, he and Maurice had to drag the disinterested off to their first Alchemy class.

Scorpius had an increasingly ominous feeling on the way though, apparently the class was in the same far off, disused tower room that Rojer had been in earlier. Was he assisting in Rayan's class? Scorpius felt very nervous as he stood outside waiting with his friends, he might've complained about the day's lessons but it had taken his mind off his guilt. More showed up to join them, there was actually eleven it seemed who had chosen to take Alchemy including Nott and Knight. He didn't know the rest, four Ravenclaws, a Slytherin girl and a lone Hufflepuff. He thought one of the Ravenclaws had been the person who'd had a problem with Michael being a werewolf in Professor Hagrid's class a while ago, he was just pondering this when he was snapped from his thoughts by the door abruptly flying open. They stood staring at it for a minute.

"Do we go inside?" Knight asked of them all in a curious whisper.

"Yes, you come inside. How many classes do you have when you stand outside of the door?" Rojer's accented voice complained in reply, Scorpius was sure if he could see him then he'd be rolling his eyes.

The students filed into the room, it was larger than Scorpius had expected but still quite small in comparison to other classrooms. There were workbenches like in a Potions classroom but much less, cabinets lined most of the walls and there were two doors leading off. It was dark and surprisingly dusty, there were only three – admittedly large – windows, situated at the front of the room which revealed a beautiful view of the lake but the twilight sky provided little light. Rojer was sitting at the front of the class in front of it, at his own table with some potion brewing and a chalk board behind him. He was peeling something with a knife as they entered, not even bothering to look as they sat.

"What happened to Rayan Fintan?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask, earning him confused looks from some of the other students, "The old Alchemy teacher."

"Rayan is not well," Rojer explained without stopping in his peeling or sparing him a glance, Scorpius felt his spirits sink. He _was_ going to be taught by the son of the man whose soul he'd destroyed, "Until he is better, he ask me to teach his class. I am his friend so I do this, I do not know how long until he is well again. I am a Alchemist, that is what I do for my life so I know what I talk about but I do not teach. If you do not like this then you can go."

* * *

"It's your turn," Oathan offered cheerfully.

Pyrrhus glanced over at them from across the hotel room, his son was being so kind and welcoming to their hostage. Oathan was trying to teach him chess, which was quite interesting considering Pyrrhus hadn't finished teaching Oathan to play yet so it was some hybrid game. Not that Bertie seemed overly receptive, he was very quiet but always seemed more relaxed with Oathan around. He heard a knock on the door, he waited for a second while the correct assortment of knocks played out before opening it for his nephew.

"Hello Carv-"

Pyrrhus' greeting was cut off prematurely as Carver greeted him with a violent punch, he fell back and hit his head painfully on a stupidly placed dresser. Carver hauled him to his feet with one hand, despite being only seventeen he was taller and burlier then Pyrrhus was, muscular from his days on the Quidditch team as a Beater despite having lost some weight since going into hiding. His hair had grown a tad but was still brutally short and brown, flecks of red and curls - both of which he knew his nephew despised - visible so it would likely be shaved soon. His beady blue eyes were filled oddly and unusually with murderous rage.

"WHAT THE HELL, PYRRHUS?!" Carver screamed at him.

Pyrrhus opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about but Carver struck him again instead. He grabbed him as he started to stagger back and slammed him against the wall instead, his free hand already punching again. Why were people so violent? He focused on his magic and opened his fist, unleashing a burst of air to throw his nephew back off him. Carver went flying and landed on his back on the carpet, Oathan leaped up and dropped down beside the teen. In his left hand, he held a knife to Carver's throat and in his right, he held a wand to Carver's head.

"That's my boy," Pyrrhus applauded his son as he jumped up, rubbing his throbbing jaw while Oathan grinned at the praise, "Now Carver, are you going to calm down so we can talk about whatever's bothering you rather than trying to pummel me into oblivion?"

"Fine," Carver spat, "Oathan, get off me."

Oathan didn't move, he glanced in askance at Pyrrhus. He smiled at his son and nodded in approval, only then did Oathan let him go. He holstered his wand and slipped his knife back into the sheath on his waist while Carver got to his feet, Bertie just sat frozen in terror.

"Well done," Pyrrhus offered and clapped his son approvingly on the shoulder, "That was brilliant."

"I woulded have moved in quicklier but since its Carver, I didn't know," Oathan admitted.

"You did the right thing," Pyrrhus assured him and Oathan smiled as he went back over to Bertie, Pyrrhus turned back to his fuming nephew, "Well?"

"What the hell, Pyrrhus?!" Carver repeated more calmly but still angrily, "I didn't sign up for this."

"What are you talking about?"

"You were supposed to talk to the woman, maybe torture her a bit if you _really_ had to _and_ it seemed like she was hiding something. You were not supposed to kidnap and butcher her son!"

"Well I felt guilty hitting her," Pyrrhus protested truthfully.

"And you don't feel guilty about hacking up her four year old?!" Carver raged at him and Pyrrhus laughed, _that_ was what he was mad about?

"Bertie, come her," Pyrrhus commanded and Carver looked somewhere between confused and outraged as the little boy approached, he held up the boys hands to show off he had all fingers and toes then turned his head to show both ears. Now, Carver looked only confused, "Do you need me to take off his shoes or do you get the point?"

"I don't understand," Carver stammered out, "But the Shadows tracked you to her, they saw the body parts?"

"It's called magic," Pyrrhus commented and withdrew his wand.

He drew it over Bertie's hand using a cutting spell to leave a small cut which had the boy start bawling as he always did. He fished in his pocket for a suitable item and found a coin, he pulled it out and let some of the blood land on the coin. He then healed Bertie's hand and held the bloody coin out to Carver, using a more complex Transfiguration spell to turn the coin into an exact replica of Bertie's thumb.

"It's just a spell..." Carver realized in surprise.

"Of course," Pyrrhus scoffed, feeling quite offended, "Do you really think I'd do that to a little kid? What kind of psychotic monster do you take me for? If I really had to then I'd at least give them a clean death first but the threat has to seem real for it to be feared and obeyed, you just need a bit of blood, an object to substitute and the right spell to make it look real though. She's a muggle, she's not going to know. Crystal can have her son back whole if she does what I want."

"I miss Crystal," Bertie sobbed and Pyrrhus rolled his eyes as he dropped to the boy's level.

"Look, kid, stop crying so much. This could be a lot worse. A word of advice, _no one_ likes a crybaby. Even people who like babies don't like it when they cry," Pyrrhus insisted and the boy's face screwed up as he seemed to try not to cry, "Save the tears for real problems, not paper cuts that I healed."

"Okay," Bertie cried and Pyrrhus sighed, gesturing for the boy to go and he ran back to Oathan in tears.

"And your father thought wizards should be strong."

"He's a wizard?" Carver wondered in surprise as Pyrrhus stood back up, nodding in confirmation.

"Oathan let him play with his wand one of the days and well... Seems like Michael isn't the only magical one in the family. I'm thinking of keeping him as a friend for Oathan if she can't find Jack," Pyrrhus shrugged it off and folded his arms, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to apologize for attacking me?"

"I'm sorry for attacking you," Carver said dryly and Pyrrhus decided it was good enough, "I still hate this plan. You didn't kill the Scamanders, Scorpius survived his poisoning and this is fruitless. So far plus now the Soul Eaters took another of her kids to force her hand as well, if she doesn't find you for them then they'll kill her daughter."

"And Brutus approves of that?" Pyrrhus wondered in surprise.

"Brutus doesn't know."

"Well tell him and he should deal with it, you know he has a soft spot for kids. Especially now he's playing Daddy to the young Lords of Darkness."

"Sure, I'll just go talk to the Shadow Master's right hand man because I'm that important," Carver complained sardonically, "I haven't even been able to get out of England yet, I haven't seen James."

"Just do your best - not that it's really any of our fault - and tell your sibling not to screw up again, Scorpius and the Scamanders need to die," Pyrrhus insisted, "I'll keep trying to get Jack."

* * *

**Part 2: **Alchemy

* * *

"What is that you're making?" Knight wondered, sounding intrigued as Rojer finished his peeling and tossed the ingredients into the cauldron.

"No idea, I just like to keep my hands busy," Rojer answered with a shrug as he finally turned to them and put down the knife, guiltily Scorpius noticed his cheek was bruising where Scorpius had struck him when he was saving his life. He rubbed his hands idly together as his dark chestnut eyes scanned them, hands - Scorpius noticed for the first time - were scarred in random patches as if from burns, "So you decide to take Alchemy, one of the older, mysterious and most difficult branches of magic. Before we begin, we will go around of the room. You will tell me your name, a fact of yourself and why you choose this class."

"You haven't even told us your name," the Slytherin girl whined, she was sitting at the station behind Scorpius.

"Rojer Voltur. Now you."

"Polley Oliver. I'm of Slytherin house and I will be of age as of tomorrow," the girl introduced herself proudly, she still sounded whiny though, "And I chose this class because my parents insisted that I keep all my class options open."

"Very good, next," Rojer stated dismissively and gestured for the person next to her to go on, he picked up the knife in his other hand and idly twirled it.

"Ferne Murdoch," the Ravenclaw girl offered, "I got five Outstandings on my exams and I took the class because Polley did, she's my best friend and she didn't want to take it alone."

"Glad to see so many of you are so enthusiast about the subject," Rojer commented with dry sarcasm and gestured for those on the next work station to speak, a gangly, pale Ravenclaw boy with scruffy brown hair.

"Martin Hargrave. And erm… I have a pet toad called Eagle," the boy told them, looking nervous as if unsure if he was doing well, "I choose Alchemy because I've read about it and I think it sounds really interesting."

"Good to know, next."

"My name is Abraham Elm," the next Ravenclaw offered, a small boy with shinier and wavier hair then the boy next to him, "I took Alchemy because I think it could be cool and my fact… did you know the kid over there with the golden eye is a werewolf?"

"I did not know and I do not care," Rojer shrugged dismissively, much to Elm's apparent disappoint while Scorpius threw him a dark look, "Next."

"I'm Henrietta Hayes," the lone Hufflepuff introduced herself, she had frizzy, curled blond hair and a very small stature, she could easily pass for a younger student and had a bland look to her, "Most people call me Etta and I took Alchemy because I want to be an Alchemist."

"Always a good reason to take," Rojer nodded and gestured for the boy on the table in front to go next, an olive-skinned boy with short, neat, black hair and dark eyes.

"My name is Orhan Eklund, I'm in Ravenclaw like all my family," Orhan told him and twiddled his thumbs nervously, "I choose Alchemy because I think it sounds interesting and at the very least could be useful."

"Very good, next."

"Well, Professor Voltu-"

"No," Rojer interjected as Knight started to speak, "I told you, I do not teach as my job. You do not have need to address me as 'Professor.'"

"Well you're teaching us now. And what if my parents taught me to always treat people with respect?"

"Then your parents are wrong," Rojer shrugged and Knight looked like he'd been slapped in the face, "Dignity is what you should always treat the other people with. Dignity is given, respect is earned and trust is built. Some do not deserve respect and in my experience, those who lord over of others with their title are often the least for deserving."

"So… We should just call you Voltur?" Knight wondered uncertainly.

"That or Rojer, I answer to Rojer faster but say whatever does make you happy."

"Why is your English so bad?" Polley Oliver complained rudely.

"English is not my first, second or even third language so forgive me if I do not sound as flawless as those who speak it all their life," Rojer offered, sounding somewhat apologetic.

"Wow, how many languages do you speak?" Knight burst out excitedly and Rojer grunted unhappily.

"Too many. Now go on."

"Oh right, yeah and by the way, I think your English is fine and my name is Kenelm Knight," Knight introduced himself and scratched his head as if thinking of what to say, "About me… My parents are dead. And my grandparents are dead. And I have a little brother in Third Year and I'm responsible for him now. I picked Alchemy because it's a special rare subject, who doesn't want in on special rare subjects? Plus it sounds pretty cool like with the Philosopher's Stone and stuff, will you teach us to make that?"

"There is no Philosopher's Stone."

"Yes there is," Elm announced confidently, leaning back and folding his arms, "I read about it in a book, Harry Potter himself got it in his First Year to stop Voldemort."

"Is that so?" Rojer mused and put the knife down for a second, opening one of the draws in his table and rifling around. A second later, his hand reemerged with a reddish lump of rock that he threw to Elm, "There is one of the Philosopher's Stone. Go on, Abraham, make us an Elixir of Life or turn something to gold."

"Well I erm… I…" Elm stammered out, staring at the rock blankly. He pulled at it, banged it on the desk and even tried taking a bite out of it which just got him laughed at by half the class. His face reddened, "I erm… I don't know how it works."

"Because it does not work," Rojer insisted and held out his hands, Elm tossed it defeatedly back to him, "The Philosopher's Stone is not a stone, it can be transmuted to a stone but it is useless as a stone unless you know how to transmute it to a useable state."

"S-So that's really the Philosopher's Stone?"

"No," Rojer scoffed as he tossed it lazily back into the draw, "It is just a rock, I do not care for gold or eternal life. Next."

"Maximus Nott," Nott said immediately, apparently still remembering where they were before the shit in conversation, "I'm a pure-blood Slytherin, second son and second eldest child of Theodore and Millicent Nott. I took Alchemy because I want to be a Healer and I think it could help with that, it was amazing how you saved Malfoy the other day."

"It was nothing," Rojer brushed it off, either not thinking it was or not wanting to make it into a big deal. He finally gestured to the table Scorpius, Michael and Maurice sat at, "Next."

"Maurice Rivers," Maurice stated formally, "I'm deaf so I have to sit at the front and hold onto this necklace to translate sounds to words I can read, I'm only fifteen but I skipped a year ahead. I took Alchemy because I haven't learned it yet, knowledge is power. Was that really Alchemy how you saved Scorpius?"

"Yes, it was."

"Will you teach us that?"

"Maybe later. Next."

"Michael Sanford. I'm a werewolf. I took it because Maurice asked me too," Michael admitted tiredly.

"Such loyal friendships in this class," Rojer commented and finally turned to Scorpius, he felt his heart start to beat more frantically as the guilt churned in his stomach, "And you, Scorpius Malfoy?"

"I took Alchemy because I think it sounds interesting, especially the soul stuff," Scorpius told him lamely while his mind screamed at him that he'd killed Rojer's father. He also realized he still needed a fact about himself and had to try really hard to resist the urge to blurt out he'd killed Rojer's father, like his mind kept repeating, "And my fact erm… I err… I don't know, I erm… Am in Hogwarts?"

"Good to have someone in the class who does not know anything about themself," Rojer quipped sarcastically before turning back to the class while Scorpius felt his face burn, "So now that getting to know is out of the way, we can begin."

"How was that getting to know us?" Polley Oliver complained incredulously, "You just learned our names, a random fact and why we are taking Alchemy."

"That is all I need to know. Who you are, why you are here and a basic sense of who you are, you can tell a lot about a person from what they say and how they say."

"Like what?"

"The first thing you tell me is that you are Slytherin, you say this because you are very proud. And you say you come of age tomorrow, you say because you are excited for your birthday. Right?"

"Right," Polly confirmed, sounding surprised.

"And since you are coming of age tomorrow, do you not think that you should take the classes that you want not what your parents say to you?"

"Yeah, yeah I think I should. Thank you… I'm sorry, I can't pronounce your weird name," Polly said and Scorpius heard her stool as she got up and left, "Bye. Come on, Ferne."

"Wait for me!" Ferne Murdoch cried and rushed after her friend.

"Anyone else want to go?" Rojer asked of the remaining class members, they didn't move. He withdrew his wand and waved it at the door, it closed after the girls, "Well two down."

"Doesn't it bother you they left the class?" Knight wondered curiously as Rojer stood.

"No. Why would it bother? Less is better, especially to learn and if you all leave then I can get to go home where people are not always stand in my way," Rojer shrugged as he idly rubbed his hands together again, drawing Scorpius' attention back to the burns. Where they and his leg the result of Alchemy? "So Alchemy, it is date back to Ancient Egypt and has been go for a long time, it is a very broad subject and covers many a different things so we will not have time in just two years to get through every last part of it but we will do what we can. Alchemy in itself is also very experimentable in nature, which is part of why it makes so dangerous. Trying new things can discover great goods and great disasters, along with dangerous processes, things can explode."

"Is that how you burned your hands?" Elm asked worriedly and Rojer glanced at his hands for a minute.

"Eh, hard to say since they were burned in childhood so even with healing you have scars. I think yes so be careful and do as I say when practical working for your own safeness but first you should know some basic things," Rojer continued and looked up from his hands, drawing his wand again and waving it at the chalkboard where four identically sized triangles drew themselves where his wand went. Two were upside down and two with lines through them, , "Alchemy was a secret art in the past and symbols were used to hide meaning, you will learn these but for now just the basic. What are the four basic aspects of nature? There is only ten of us in the room, Maurice, it is a waste of time to raise your hand and wait to be picked. Just say what you know."

"Earth, Fire, Water and Air," Maurice answered as he lowered the hand he'd raised, Rojer tapped each of them in term as they were mentioned.

"Very good. Take five points to your house. But they represent more of then the obvious that you think. Fire is the life-force, burning will to live. Water is our emotion, easily flows and not completely in our control. Air is our intelligence, above it all. Earth is our body, the solid matter we are made of," Rojer explained and drew three more symbols with his wand beneath the elements, one was a cross with a triangle on top, one a cross with a circle on top with another semi-circle on top of that and finally a circle with a horizontal line through it, "These are the three primes. What are they?"

"Sulfur, Mercury and Salt," Etta Hayes spoke up, again Rojer tapped the symbol as she said the word.

"Very good. Take ten points to your house," Rojer told her with a vague nod in her direction, "These is make up the matter of all life. Salt is the base matter, what we are made of. Sulfur is the spirit of life, the soul for a lack of a better word. And Mercury is the connect between the both, the mind. Like with this, Alchemy is also multi-layered. It link to our potion-making and transformation magics which is why you must have a basic grasp of this, to muggle chemistry and my least favorite part, the philo… the philosp..."

"Philosophy," Maurice provided and Rojer gestured in his direction approvingly without looking away from the random direction of space he was staring into.

"Yes, that," Rojer nodded and drew his grim gaze back to them, he rubbed his hands together idly again, "But the important word to remember is transmutation, at the core this is what Alchemy is. It is all to do changing things, creating and mixing and merging but unlike in potions, it is not just with liquids and the final product is not limited to a vial of liquid. Now, I am tired of speak and I am bored, the sound of my voice is annoying. Let us do something, we shall try to get you to create Aqua Vitae, a common alchemic experiment and this will introduce some of the process you use. To do is the best way to learn not to listen, there are too many languages and too many words but the thing is always the very same. I started with water in this… whatever I make, let us make it pure again."

"So you _did_ have a plan for that all along," Knight mused.

"No, I am just making up as I go along but I like how you could think that," Rojer offered as he limped over to the cupboards while Knight laughed, "Everything item equipment you need should be in here and materials to work with is in the cupboard there."

"Did you get that limp because of Alchemy?" Elm asked worriedly while Rojer started to retrieve the things they wound need, this time he didn't hesitate in shaking his head.

The rest of the lesson was practical, Rojer added some liquid to his potion then doled it out for them purify. He had his own setup at the front of the class to demonstrate as they went along, explaining as he went and making sure everyone was doing it right. Scorpius found it was more complicated than potion making, each step seemed more complicated to remove different things or mix something in to bind it to something else so they could remove them both. He also got the danger, there was no leaving things to simmer and instead using an intense heat to burn way things in a crucible that could explode if you hadn't successfully gotten rid of all the seeds from the previous step. Wands were also more of a presence, from creating the fire to magically stirring while muttering some minor transfiguration incantations.

And if this was just a simple Alchemic thing then Scorpius dreaded to think what Rojer would consider complex, although Scorpius supposed it would help if his mind didn't keep wandering. Guilt nipped as his mind, trying to chase the truth out of his mouth. He didn't know why, he just felt compelled to blurt out the truth and beg for forgiveness. Rojer was actually a pretty good teacher, he was clear in his explanation, demonstration and made sure everyone was keeping up. He did still look grim, Scorpius thought that was just the way his permanent expression had been set which made it clash more tragically with the smiling child from the memory.

Until Ashylos had been killed anyway. He seemed in pain too, it was more noticeable as the lesson went on when more walking was involved and he got better at noticing a cringe from his regular expression. Scorpius was sure his leg was paining him, once or twice he'd seem him rub the leg he limped on. That was something else, he hadn't been crippled with a limp in the memory that Ashylos had showed him. What had happened to him?

"Alright, then now we should be done and if you have done it all right as we have then…" Rojer announced, snapping Scorpius back from his thoughts as they poured the liquid through the final filter. He held up his flash, showing a perfectly clear, still liquid that he downed, "…You should be able to drink it. Ah, refreshening."

The reactions were a bit mixed, some – Elm and Michael - cringed, some eyed their liquid uncertainly – Martin and Orhan - and some – Knight and Maurice - confidently downing it as well. Seeing the latter two nod in approval and look impressed, Scorpius and the rest started drinking theirs. Scorpius found himself pleasantly surprised, it tasted like water but very pure and oddly invigorating. He was almost disappointed that was it, they had been working a while and it had been even longer since lunch time.

"That stuff is good," Elm complimented Rojer.

"If it wasn't then you would have been dead," Rojer shrugged which elicited a horrified expression on Elm's face as the bell went for dinner, "Perfect timing. Now go and I will see anyone still wanting this class tomorrow."

"What about this stuff?" Knight wondered as the others started to file out.

"I will clean it up, I do not eat dinner with the hall," Rojer insisted, practically shooing him out the door.

"Great class then, Rojer, see you tomorrow," Knight called back, others adding similar as they left.

"I've never done that before, it was very interesting," Maurice started to say as Scorpius went to leave with them but stopped, glancing back to see Rojer limping around to clean up after them, "Scor, stop obsessing. Just come on."

"I'm just going to help him clean up, I'll catch up," Scorpius decided and the deaf boy rolled his eyes before heading down.

"See you at dinner then," Michael offered and clapped him on the shoulder as he left, Scorpius headed back inside.

"Want some help?"

"Not necessarily," Rojer shrugged and rolled his eyes when Scorpius started to help him gather up the equipment.

_I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father_, Scorpius' mind immediately started repeating.

"It was a good class," Scorpius told him nervously but truthfully as they piled the things up by the sink, he couldn't wait to learn more about the soul stuff and got the impression Rojer had touched on it with the primes, "Very… enlightening."

"If you say so, I do not teach."

"I erm…"

_I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. _

"I am sorry that if I upset you when I was saving your life, it was necessary," Rojer apologized, taking Scorpius by surprise as he started filling the sink with water to clean, "If it bother you this much then next time I will just levitate out of the way and let you die."

"Oh right, no that's okay. I-I understand," Scorpius stammered out, feeling his heart thundering with guilt, "I'm sorry I hit you. I just… freaked out."

"It is fine," Rojer offered disinterestedly as he started cleaning the equipment, Scorpius started to put it away to keep himself useful.

"And you know, I don't… I don't think I ever thanked you."

"Thanked you for what?"

"Saving my life."

"Ah right, I did not notice because I do not care," Rojer told him dismissively, "I do not save your life to be thanked. I do it because you were in my way to get food. And it is right thing to do."

"Well still, thank you," Scorpius insisted and Rojer spared him a grim look before going back to his work, he seemed miserable. Ashylos would want his son to be happy, "You know, you erm… you don't strike me as a happy person."

"Really? This surprises me," Rojer quipped sarcastically, "And now you have thank me, if there is nothing other than you can go. I can do this."

_I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father._

"Erm… Ok-Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Scorpius offered and almost tripped over his own feet as he left to go to dinner, he'd have to do something about that.

"How was Alchemy?" Albus asked through a mouthful of spaghetti as he joined his friends at the table.

"Good."

"Are you done obsessing over Rojer now?"

"No," Scorpius admitted and his friends collectively groaned, "I can't just ignore it! He's Ashylos' son. I killed Ashylos."

"You destroyed his soul after his dead, there's a difference," Maurice pointed out and Scorpius felt like slapping himself.

"Thank you, that makes it sound so much better," Scorpius complained irritably as he tossed some food onto his plate.

"He has a point though," Rose spoke up, "If that guy is Ashylos' son then he lost his father long before you came along so his life is irrelevant and you don't have to obsess over him."

"Shut up, Rose," Maurice barked darkly, making the girl look taken aback, "Don't agree with me."

"Ashylos would want me to help his son," Scorpius protested seriously.

"Help him do what?" Michael wondered slowly, "Rojer is a grown man. With a life."

"Well he seems unhappy, maybe if I told him about Ashylos then he'd have closure and he could be happy."

"Scor," Abby said gently and he glanced at her to see her shake her head, "I don't think so."

"Of course he's unhappy, the last time you saw him his father was being murdered by Grindelwald's men," Maurice pointed out as he scarfed down some chicken, "They probably captured him and tortured him for information, try to deduce if Ashylos was alone or not. Kid was traumatized and broken long before you destroyed his father's soul."

"If he is this Rojer who was Ashylos' son then he's been alive a long time," Corin stated seriously, "A million things could have happened that have nothing to do with Ashylos, maybe he doesn't even remember him anymore."

"He could just be unhappy because the other Alchemist teacher is sick," Michael prompted while Scorpius felt his spirits sink further, "He mentioned Rayan was his friend after all."

"Rayan did have a pretty nasty cough when I met him," Scorpius admitted as he recalled the memory and he supposed it was a reason, he wouldn't be happy if his friend was ill, "But we don't know how close they were or anything."

"Exactly my point," Corin reiterated, "You don't know him, you don't anything about him or what's going on with his life. It's none of your business."

"Ashylos would care if he was here but he's not here because I destroyed him so it's my business to care now."

"That's just your guilt talking," Albus insisted as he swallowed quickly to avoid a reprimand from Michael, "And you know, if your assassin returns then you won't have to worry about it. Can we please talk about that?"

"The mood I'm in right now, if an assassin comes then I wouldn't mind them killing me," Scorpius sighed heavily.

* * *

**Part 3: **Help

* * *

Crystal was devastated, she really struggled to believe it. First some lunatic had taken Bertie and now a different lunatic had taken Ivy. They were _children_, they were _muggles_, they weren't a part of this and neither was she. What had she actually done to deserve this? What had she done to get herself dragged into this situation, she didn't know who Pyrrhus Florian was and why he wanted Jack and she didn't know who those people were and why they wanted Florian. Why was this even happening to her family? The questions tore at her mind all night, her mind that was trapped in her throbbing battered skull. She didn't sleep, she hadn't slept, she hadn't eaten either and the next morning she had Agnes and Flynn all the more confused and lost for their lost siblings. And still no reply from Jack or return of the owl, she was seriously beginning to think that Jack had just killed the poor bird.

She sent the only two kids she had left off to school, hoping against hope they'd be safer in a crowded school environment. She couldn't sit around waiting for the next piece of her son to come to her, she had to do something to find this psycho Florian guy to save Ivy while waiting on the owl. John had seemed to imply the tracking spell he used on the letter was only one of several, he'd also mentioned it was illegal which could be why no one knew about them. She just needed to go back to Knockturn Alley, not be so obvious about being a muggle this time, what had he said about the tattoo on his arm? Crystal recalled it from memory and drew it only her arm, smudging it and fading it, making it look identical to John's. She also found a suitable stick to pretend to be a wand and then headed off back to the Wizarding World.

She rolled up her sleeves to reveal the fake tattoo when she got to Knockturn Alley, heading back down into the gloomy twisted streets while her heart screamed in her ears. She couldn't believe she was doing this but then what choice did she have? She had to do something, it didn't matter if it was illegal and what happened to her as long as she could protect her children. She had to start somewhere.

"Hey! You there!" Crystal barked at a random passerby, trying to sound tough and to not recoil in fear when the weedy wizard turned to face her, "I-I'm looking for information and you… you better tell me."

"Is that so?" the man sneered.

"Yeah!" Crystal insisted and pointed to the fake tattoo with her fake wand, "Or… Or I- Or else. Bad stuff will happen to you. With magic. That I'll do to you."

"Oh, Bambi," a familiar voice sighed and Crystal felt a hand grab her arm, yet again she being compressed into darkness and then she was back on the outskirts of Diagon Alley again with John facing her, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"What… What you said," Crystal stammered out, his eyes widened when they saw the fake tattoo, "Being like I belong."

"What the hell is this?!" John demanded as he grabbed her arm with the mark, "Did you seriously get a tattoo of this?!"

"No!" Crystal protested as she yanked her arm free, "I just drew it. I used to be good at art."

"Don't you know what that is? What that represents?"

"No idea."

"It's the Dark Mark, Voldemort's Mark that he gave to his followers. And in case you didn't know, Voldemort is the guy who wanted to kill all muggles and is the apparent father of the Shadow Master," John explained to her as he waved his wand over her arm, vanishing the mark in an instant, "You can't go around with the Dark Mark on your arm."

"Put it back!" Crystal insisted, "I need it! I don't care what it means."

"No," John said firmly, "And for the record, your plan was not going to work anyway. The intimidating effect is kind of ruined by the face full of bruises. Plus you just flat out suck at it."

"Well I don't have magic to heal me," Crystal pointed out miserably and John raised his wand again, he muttered something under his breath and waved it at her. She felt the pain slowly receding and was sure if she could see her face then she'd see the bruises fading, "Thank you."

"What are you even looking for now?"

"Tracking spells. I need to find someone else," Crystal admitted as she instinctively rolled her sleeves back down and wrapped her arms protectively around herself.

"Why are trying to find so many people?" John wondered incredulously and Crystal glanced at him, catching his vivid, cerulean eyes as a thought occurred to her. She used to like blue eyes.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" Crystal asked quietly as he folded his arms. She needed help and she was quite sure John had nothing to do with law enforcement.

"Well, not_ really_. It's more of a mild curiosi-"

"A few days this random psycho kidnapped my youngest son and told me if I didn't find my ex-boyfriend for him then he'd kill him and he-he'd send him back in pieces until I did, he's been doing that. And then last night these two other people appeared, a girl and this Selwyn man and they told me the psycho was called Pyrrhus Florian, they're after him and they took my youngest daughter and told me if I didn't find Florian then they'll do the same. I still haven't heard from my ex-husband since I sent the owl so I'm trying to find a way to find Florian which might be done with tracking spells which you said were illegal which is why I was looking in Knockturn Alley," Crystal blurted out desperately, her eyes watering by the time she was done, "Do you know anything that could help?"

"Why did you have to go and tell me that!?" John snapped at her angrily and she couldn't help but flinch slightly in fear.

_Maybe he'll beat you, you deserve it_, Bob's voice told her unhelpfully.

"I'm sorry," Crystal muttered weakly and John sighed.

"Did you keep the pieces?"

"What?"

"The pieces of your son that Florian sent you, did you keep them?" John elaborated and Crystal nodded, feeling like vomiting just talking about it, "No spell is going to help you find Florian, he's defected from the Soul Eaters and both they and the Aurors are after him. If they're struggling to find him then no tracking spell you can do is going to help."

"Damn," Crystal sighed defeatedly and hung her head, so much for that plan.

"But there is a tracking spell we can do to find the rest of your son," John continued and Crystal's head shot back up, "If he's with Florian then that finds us Florian."

"You'll help me?" Crystal wondered hopefully to which John grunted.

"Unfortunately, yes."

* * *

Scorpius threw himself into his animagi training for the rest of the evening, if he couldn't help Rojer then maybe he could at least help Michael. He failed on that front too, at least in the sense of transforming completely. It did leave him tired enough to sleep easy though, not that he had a big day tomorrow. Lessons were much more sporadic, after lunch he had a couple of hours until his next lesson then even longer before the final class of the day which was Alchemy. First thing was Transfiguration though – except for Abby who had Arithmancy instead and Albus who had nothing – which meant meeting the new teacher, Penny Durante according to Cassia. She probably had been introduced at the Start of Term feast as well but Scorpius had missed that. It felt weird to be having a Transfiguration class without Abby and Albus.

"Goodmorning Sixth Years," Durante offered pleasantly with a kindly smile after they were seated, Michael sat beside Scorpius and she gave no indication of minding or wanting him to sit alone like Midas had, "I know you've had quite a rocky time with Transfiguration professors in the past but with any luck, those days are behind us. I'm Pen-_Professor_ Durante, I haven't taught classes before but I've tutored homeschooled children and Transfiguration has always been my best subject. I'm going to talk to you a little about NEWT level Transfiguration and then we'll do some exercises to see where we all stand, how does that sound?"

There was a murmuring of acceptance and nodding as Durante started on her NEWT speech, Scorpius noticed many of the boys seemed to be paying more attention than usual. She was fairly young and shoulder-length, dirty blond hair framed a face that could easily be considered attractive, she was maybe a little shorter than average but had a slender frame nonetheless. She did come across as quite friendly but since all she talked about was NEWTs and had them go over some previous spells to gauge where they were, Scorpius wasn't sure how she'd fare as a teacher yet. After that was another lonely runic lesson but at least they were doing work this lesson, Professor Kresmir seemed back to his usual enthusiastic self and it was catching. Plus it took his mind off Rojer, he gave them homework though. Scorpius took to working it while the rest of his friends went to relax in the dormitory or were in classes if they were in the younger years, it felt strange to be doing homework alone.

"Hey Scor," a voice offered and Scorpius' head shot up to see Lorcan, "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Err… Sure," Scorpius agreed and Lorcan gratefully took a seat, not before scanning the Library first as if making sure they weren't about to suffer imminent attack.

"I'm sorry, the others are in class except Lily. Normally I'd sit with her right now but Orous has a free while the others have Arithmancy so they're off doing dating stuff I guess," Lorcan explained as he opened a Potions book, looking bored already and nervously thumbing his wand as his eyes skimmed the pages.

"Why don't you sit with your brother? He seems to like you again."

"I… I kind of wanted a break," Lorcan admitted guiltily, "He's kind of… kind of… erm… exhausting."

"Hey Lorc!" Lysander called happily and joined them at the table, "For a second I thought I'd lost you! Oh, hi Scorpius, how are you?"

"I'm fine," Scorpius offered uncertainly and Lysander looked concerned.

"Are you sure you're alright? You're looking a little gray today."

"Gray?"

"Yes, when your aura is gray it tends to indicate there's a problem, that you're emotionally distressed or sad," Lysander explained seriously and Lorcan pinched the bridge of his nose, "To say you're feeling blue is wrong and a common misconception."

"You can't see auras anyway."

"You can if you drink the milk of a Nundu, my friend let me have some at breakfast."

"Well I'm okay," Scorpius insisted, having no intention of talking about it with Lysander.

"You can lie to me with your words all your want but your aura never lies and you shouldn't tell lies, it'll fill your brain with black smoke," Lysander told him knowingly while Lorcan gave a Scorpius a look that pleaded with him to not ask, the younger twin turned back to the older, "So Lorc, how are you?"

"Nothing much has changed since the last time I saw you five minutes ago in Potions," Lorcan pointed out.

"Oh right," Lysander nodded and bit his lip nervously, "Well would you like me to get you anything? A book you need for your Potions homework maybe?"

"I already _have_ the book I need."

"You should have waited for me, I could've gotten it for you."

"I don't mind."

"Well would you like me to get you something? Something to drink maybe? I find a nice cup of tea is quite lovely in the afternoon."

"I don't drink tea," Lorcan insisted.

"Oh right, you don't. Some juice maybe? Or just plain water?"

"We're in the Library," Scorpius pointed out, "You're not allowed drinks in here."

"Really? Since when?" Lysander wondered, seeming genuinely shocked by this revelation.

"Since always! It's not exactly a new rule."

"Oh, I never realized. I'm sorry, Lorcan," Lysander apologized, his face screwing up with guilt, "I'm so sorry that I can't get you a drink. Well I could still get you a drink and you would just have to drink it outside the room."

"I didn't want a drink," Lorcan reminded him and Lysander relaxed slightly.

"Oh, right. Would you like something to eat then? I could bring you a snack or something, whatever you want."

"You're not allowed to eat in here either," Scorpius told him and Lysander's face fell again.

"Who makes these cruel and unusual rules? What's next? We're not allowed to whistle in here? I'm so sorry, Lor-"

"But it's okay because I'm not hungry either," Lorcan interjected quickly and Lysander relaxed a bit again.

"Well is there anything else I can get you that you want?"

"No, let's just get on with this Potions essay."

"Oh, okay, whatever you want to do because I'm here for you, brother," Lysander assured his twin with a warm smile, Lorcan gritted his teeth in an attempt at a smile and they went back to their work. It lasted for all of five minutes before Lysander spoke up again, "Are you thirsty now, Lorcan?"

"No but I do need the toilet," Lorcan decided, looking exasperated as he stood.

"Do you want me to go with you? I could help-"

"I don't need help to go to the toilet!" Lorcan snapped and stalked off in frustration, Lysander watched him walk away before sighing and abruptly slapping Scorpius' arm.

"What was that for?" Scorpius wondered incredulously.

"You could try being nicer to him," Lysander complained at him, amber eyes narrowing darkly, "My brother's very fragile right now, he needs support not to be ignored. That's why he needed the toilet, to get away from _you_."

"I erm… ah… _what?!_" Scorpius stammered out finally, having no idea what to say to that and feeling quite sure he wasn't the reason for Lorcan's departure. Lysander sighed heavily but his expression softened.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't snap at you when your aura is all gray, it's not your fault that you don't understand him anyway. You don't have the bond we do because you're not a twin," Lysander told him and patted his arm gently, he sighed, "I wish I knew how to help him more but I fear he'll never have peace so long as he can remember those terrible, dark days."

Scorpius felt very relieved when he could leave the Scamanders and head to Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was just a single lesson and the designated Patronus lesson. It was good to see Professor Ashain – and his kids - again though, he gave them a NEWT speech as well but it was more succinct at least and then he had them trying to do a Patronus. Nonverbally. Scorpius was surprised to find he struggled with it as he'd been doing plenty of nonverbal magic with Varanian, some spells were harder to do nonverbally though and this was apparently one of them. The best he got was a few wisps which was more than pretty much anyone else, even Michael drew a blank and he was something of a Patronus prodigy.

"Gee, you guys really suck at this," Cassia offered unhelpfully.

"Like you could do better," Rose grumbled irritably, although she had never managed to cast a Patronus anyway.

"I bet I could."

"Patronuses are hard," Antonius agreed, making Scorpius wonder if he still was practicing magic. Somehow, he found it extremely unlikely the answer was no, "And do your work."

"Numbers are boring."

"You still need to know them, mathematics is very important," Rose spoke up again.

"I already _do_ know it," Cassia insisted, "It's easy."

"You think it's easy, huh?" Albus scoffed and reached over to snatch her work away from her then, "What's twenty-four times multiplied by seven then?"

"It's…" Cassia mused and paused to think for a minute, "One hundred and sixty-eight."

"Hah! No, it's… It's um… What is the answer?" Albus trailed off and dropped his voice to ask them.

"She's right," Maurice said dismissively, he hadn't been trying very hard to do a Patronus which was unusual for the work-crazy solider boy.

"Damn," Albus muttered as Antonius snatched his work back and slid it back to his sister, "An eight year old is better at math then me."

"Don't feel bad, Albie," Cassia offered gently and stretched across to pat him on the shoulder, "It's not your fault that your Daddy isn't an all-powerful, super awesome, mega talented genius like ours to inherit stuff. You're not an Ashain."

"My Dad is Harry Potter."

"So? My Daddy is Atticus Ashain and he's the best in the world ever," Cassia scoffed determinedly as she folded her arms proudly, "If I'm half of your age and better at math then you then it just proves who is the best Daddy."

"M-"

"Give it up, Al, you're going to win in an argument with her about her Dad," Abby interjected and Albus sighed resignedly.

"I win," Cassia grinned toothily, "Seriously though, we should get to together sometime before the assassin strikes again."

"We'd love to but Scorpius doesn't care about that," Michael pointed out and the smile was wiped from her face in her instant.

"There's an assassin trying to murder you and you _don't_ care? Did you go crazy over the summer?"

"What if they try to kill you again?" Antonius asked, looking incredibly anxious and terrified of this thought.

"This is Hogwarts, its safe… ish and I'm sure the Aurors patrolling aren't going to let anyone in to kill me," Scorpius brushed it off, not wanting to have to think about it.

"Since when did you have faith in Aurors?"

"Yeah, half are Shadows and the other half are so stupid they don't even notice when one of their wand holsters go missing," Cassia scoffed, earning a scowl from her brother, "We can figure out who's trying to kill you and get them, I heard Marigold-"

"Hehe, _Marigold_," Albus chuckled, Abby rolled her eyes.

"-Talking to Daddy about it, the poison used is pretty fast so the timeline means you had to have been poisoned on the train. It's so toxic that you just have to touch it to be infected so either someone poisoned your pasty or someone touched you, no one else was poisoned so it was just you they were after and the other food was okay," Cassia explained and shoved a spare piece of parchment, "So right a list of everyone that you had contact with, just people brushing past you could've touched you."

"I'm not doing that," Scorpius insisted, handing the paper back to her, "In that case, it could've been anyone I walked by and I wasn't paying attention to everyone I walked by."

"It would be a start, you have a investigation."

"Good luck getting him to do that, Cassia, every time I bring it up he brushes it off to obsess over his guilt trip about Rojer."

"Why are you obsessed with Rojer instead of who tried to kill you?" Antonius wondered incredulously.

"Well you can't obsess over him if assassins kill you first," Cassia pointed out determinedly, "You should take this seriouslier, Scor. I'd rather investigate your attempted murder then your murder."

"Why do you need to investigate at all?" Scorpius complained, wishing everyone would stop making such a big deal out of it, "We know it's almost certainly the Shadows."

"Acause you're my friend and stopping the Shadows is what… Aaron's… colors do," Cassia offered seriously, managing to use code, "Plus in ten years I'll be an Auror and in twenty I'll be the Head Auror, investigating is part of catching the bad guys."

"She's right you know, they're not just going to give up," Maurice added and Scorpius sighed in frustration.

"If you lot don't get on with your work then I'm going to split you up," Professor Ashain chided them as he passed by, "I don't mind you talking but you have to actually _do_ the work."

"Yeah, get to work," Cassia commanded at them, jabbing her finger.

"I saw you talking to them," Professor Ashain pointed out and Cassia's face flushed at being caught out, "Get on with your own work, if you interfere with the class then you can do your math in my office."

"Yes, Daddy."

Scorpius was glad it meant they shut up about the poison but the lesson ended shortly after that anyway, he took he break in classes to work on his animagi training since the only homework so far had been from Runes and he'd finished that earlier. He was determined to do it, those gaps in the timetable could be very useful. After that he trudged on back up for Alchemy with Maurice and surprisingly, Michael still.

"Aren't you going to drop Alchemy now you've had the first lesson?" Scorpius wondered of him as they climbed the steps of the tower, "I got the impression that was what you were going to do."

"It was," Michael admitted, "But I changed my mind. Don't you remember what Nott said? It could be useful for healing, at the very least we know it can save people dying from poison like Rojer did to you. I want to learn how to do that, especially since the assassin you're choosing to ignore could try again so I might have to use it."

"You know, you people accuse me of obsessing but you're the ones obsessing over this stupid poison thing."

"Are you still here, Sanford?" a voice demanded angrily as they reached the top of the stairs where the rest of the class were clustered, minus the two girls who'd left and would likely not be back. Elm was the speaker, "Thought you'd have dropped out by now. Don't you have a full moon to go bark at, you filthy dog?"

"Hey! Don't insult my friend," Scorpius snapped and had his wand in his hand in an instant, Maurice hastily grabbed his necklace.

"What did I miss?" Maurice wondered as he also drew his wand.

"Just drop it," Michael sighed.

"I wasn't insulting your friend, I was insulting the dog," Elm said determinedly, folding his arms.

"Are you English allergic to the opening of doors?" Rojer's accented voice complained as the door opened, this time the Alchemist had opened it by hand and gestured for them to enter, "Seriously, go into the class do not stand outside it or next time there will be no class."

"Got it," Knight nodded as they started to file in but Rojer held up his hand to halt Scorpius and Maurice.

"No. You two go away, no class for you today."

"What?! Why!?" Maurice burst out incredulously, Rojer's eyes darted immediately to their wands.

"There is no fighting. Come back tomorrow and be calm or do not come back."

"We were just defending our friend," Scorpius pointed out desperately.

"Suckers," Elm smirked but Rojer halted him too.

"Same for you, my ears work. There is no bullying. Come back tomorrow and be calm or do not come back."

"That's completely unfair!" Elm protested angrily.

"That is my rules. No fighting. No bullying. You treat all people with dignity in my class or you do not come in my class. Buh-bye," Rojer insisted with a note of finality before closing the door on them.

* * *

**Part 4: **Fingers, Blood and Talks

* * *

Crystal headed out with John and took him back to her home – or rather just told him the address and he teleported them there because it was faster – while her remaining children were still in school. She started to have second thoughts as she let him into the house, she was putting her trust in a random stranger who could very well betray her or kill her or whatever. She had had to accept she was an awful judge of character. She didn't think she had a choice though, what was the worst that could happen really? If he killed her then maybe the psychos would let her children go since they had no reason to hold them hostage anymore, for one stupid second she hoped he would kill her. And then she noticed another box on the kitchen table.

_Great plan, what piece of our child did the psycho cut off now while you were failing as a mother?!_ Bob's voice growled at her inside her mind darkly, _Answer me, you stupid bitch! Why can't you protect our children!?_

"No," Crystal whimpered tearfully, putting a hand to her face.

"This is the kind of box Florian is sending you pieces of your son?" John asked bluntly as he strode over, Crystal cringed at horrible words and managed a nod before John flipped it open while retaining his unreadable expression, "Hm. Where are the other parts?"

"Freezer," Crystal muttered and John immediately went to retrieve them, "I erm… thought… thought maybe they could be reattached if I get him back."

"I understand," John stated as he placed the three tubs on the table.

"What erm… What… What part of…?"

"Another finger," John answered before she had to complete her sentence and looked away as he took the parts out.

"And you… you really think you can find him with… with those?"

"No."

"No? What? But you said…" Crystal shot out desperately, turning back round to see John was waving his wand over the body parts that he'd laid out on the table. She resisted the urge to throw up.

"Look," John offered and made a gesture with his wand, immediately the small chunks of flesh shifted to become two coins, a tissue and a Lego block, "These are not your son's limbs. It's a Transfiguration spell, a bit of blood onto an object and you can turn it into an exact replica of that person's body parts. I guess its true Florian has a gift for Transfiguration."

"So Bertie's not had his limbs cut off?" Crystal wondered, feeling a flood of relief coursing through her.

"No. Or if he has, Florian hasn't given them to you. It means one of two things, either he didn't have the stomach to mutilate your son or…"

"Or what?"

"Or he's already dead and using the spell to make it seem like your son is still alive," John admitted reluctantly and Crystal had to fight back the wave of despair that crashed against her, "There's no way to tell. I'm sorry."

_Why didn't you protect them?!_ Bob's voice screamed at her angrily, _You can't do anything right! You can't do anything at all! My son is dead because of you, Crystal, this is on you! You killed him! You've killed them all!_

"Is… Is there anything we can do still?" Crystal pleaded, glancing back to John who had crossed his arms and averted his eyes with a thoughtful expression.

"There is one spell I know that could work. It's Dark Magic though."

"Okay," Crystal agreed readily, she'd realized John would likely use bad magic when she accepted his help.

"I'll need to prepare a potion, may take a while."

"Okay," Crystal agreed again with only a hint of reluctance, not wanting to wait but accepting it was better than nothing.

"It'll require your blood," John pointed out and Crystal was slightly taken aback for a minute but quickly decided it was worth it.

"Okay. Whatever it takes."

"Okay then," John nodded in understanding as he approached her, he tapped her shoulder and she felt herself being compressed again. They reappeared by her car back in London, "I'll get started on this potion, I'll come for you when it's time for you."

"I'll be waiting," Crystal confirmed as John turned away, vanishing with a sound like a thunderclap.

Crystal could only cling to hope that it would work and she was doing the right thing as she drove home, trying not to think about the possibility that Bertie was already dead. Somehow she didn't put it past Florian to have already killed him and there was Ivy, she had no way of knowing whether she was alive. Had her children been dead the moment they were taken? Was she just chasing ghosts? Was there any hope left?

_Only a fool could possibly think there's still hope_, Bob's voice scoffed, _Bertie and Ivy are with me now, I'll keep them safer then you ever did. But you're going to keep trying anyway because you are a fool_

Crystal just nodded, wondering whether she should be concerned for her mental health as she pulled in at her home. Not that it felt much like a home now. She headed inside, thinking back to her thoughts when she'd walked inside earlier. Would her children really be better off without her?

"Hey," a gruff unfamiliar voice barked as Crystal walked into the kitchen, she jumped and spun to see a heavyset stranger in wizard's robes leering at her, "Have you found Florian yet?"

"N-No," Crystal stammered out.

"Well that's too bad," the man smirked before turning on his heel and disappearing with a pop.

Crystal had an incredibly bad feeling but was distracted by a squawk, she turned to see John's owl had returned. She rushed over to it and it nudged a piece of paper towards her that it had probably brought, it wasn't an envelope but nonetheless it seemed that Jack had replied. It read simply: _If you really want to meet then be home tonight, I'll come_. Crystal let out a relieved breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in, finally some good news. If he was open to meeting then maybe he'd be open to meeting Florian, which might spare Bertie. That was assuming she did still have a son to save.

Seeing she had nothing else to do besides her jobs that she was still completely ignoring, she hid the note along with the lid of the box with the newest location for Jack to meet Florian on the inside of it. She also made some sandwiches for Agnes and Flynn when they came in, it shouldn't be long now. She jolted again as there was another pop, spinning to see the man had returned. Except now he was covered in a spattering of red.

"Here," the man offered and tossed something to her, she caught it before glancing at it. It was a finger, a child's bloody finger. Crystal couldn't help but scream in horror as she dropped it, the man laughed and she looked back to see he was holding a second digit, "They've been charmed, squeeze that one when you want to summon us and we'll know from this one. If you find Florian then you'll get your brat back and if you don't then you don't get her back, there's only a limited amount of pieces especially in such a small body so I suggest you hurry."

"You sick bastard," Crystal sobbed and the man had his wand on her an instant, she felt the spell of pain again yet somehow the mental anguish of her daughter's pain was worse. Ivy had been whole before he'd left, she was sure.

_If you were a better mother then my daughter would still be unharmed, you worthless bitch,_ Bob's voice spat into her mind.

"Insult me again and you'll how sick I can be, muggle scum," the man said threateningly as he stopped the spell.

She looked back to him as the residual waves of pain rippled through her, she saw him take one of the sandwiches she'd made for her kids. He took a bite, his hands still sprayed with her daughter's blood before vanishing with another pop and taking the sandwich. Crystal caught sight of her daughter's bloody finger there on the floor where she'd dropped it, she pictured her poor little girl in pain and burst into tears. She had to pick herself up though, putting the finger away in the freezer so Agnes and Flynn wouldn't have to see it when they came in. They returned just after she sat down at the table when she was done putting it away, they both looked worried and she braced herself for more questions.

"It's going to be okay, Mummy," Flynn assured her instead as he hugged her tightly, "It's going to be okay."

"You don't even know what's wrong," Crystal couldn't help but point out and Flynn just squeezed her tighter.

"It doesn't matter what's wrong, Mummy, I know it'll be okay. We'll be okay, we always are. Ivy and Bertie too."

"Oh sweetheart," Crystal whispered as she hugged her son back, Agnes came over to hug her as well, "I love you both so much."

"We love you too," Agnes whispered as Crystal pulled away and mustered a smile for them.

"Just eat your sandwiches and go watch some TV, okay?"

"Do we live off sandwiches now?" Flynn wondered jokily.

"I just don't have time to cook right now."

Agnes and Flynn took the sandwiches and went to watch the television, Crystal hoped it would take their minds of things and wished she could do the same. She remained in the kitchen, ignoring phone calls about the work she was missing and waiting for John. She rested her head on her hands, her eyes stinging and memories playing over in her mind. She tried to remember the last time she'd felt at peace, felt as if things were okay. Those days were long gone, half a lifetime away now. She hadn't realized she'd been drifting into sleep until she heard a loud bang like a thunderclap, jolting to see John had returned.

"It's time," John said simply while Flynn and Agnes rushed in to see what the noise was, he scowled at them.

"Who are you?" Agnes demanded, somewhere between firmly and fearfully.

"Relax, this is just my… friend, John," Crystal offered uncertainly, not sure how else to describe him without having to elaborate, "Just go back to what you were doing, we need to have a grown up talk alone. Okay?"

"Okay, Mummy," Flynn agreed, he eyed John somewhat cautiously but nonetheless the kids went back into the front room while John turned on her.

"How many kids do you actually have?" John questioned of her.

"Five," Crystal admitted, "That was Agnes and Flynn, Bertie and Ivy are the ones missing then my eldest, Michael, just started his Sixth Year in Hogwarts."

"You have a sixteen year old son?" John scoffed, looking at her incredulously, "What did you have him when you were like twelve?"

"Sixteen," Crystal said, not for the first time as she got to her feet and wrapped her arms protectively around herself, "His father is the one Florian wants."

"A wizard?"

"No."

"No?" John repeated in surprise, "What does he want with a muggle then?"

"Jack… Jack kind of… sold his soul with a Specter and became one or something. I don't… I don't know what he wants with him, I didn't even realize others knew."

"You have the weirdest life," John sighed and shook his head, "Do you have anyone to watch the kids left or do you want me to bring them?"

"Bring them."

* * *

"You know this is never going to work, right?" Joel taunted and Pyrrhus tore his eyes away from the magic two-way conversation mirror he was staring at it, "It's been four days now. If the woman knows where Jack is then she doesn't care enough to tell you."

"Maybe she just needs time," Pyrrhus insisted and went back to watching the mirror because he didn't want to look as his brother, usually he used it for staying in contact with Carver but now he was using it to watch the most recent location he'd given as the meeting place. It was safer to keep switching it.

"Face it, Pyrrhy, it's a dead end. We both know Mothers abandon their sons."

"Not all mothers."

"Yours, mine, Oathan's, Alzay's. Can you even name a mother who hasn't abandoned her child?"

"Carver's mother?" Pyrrhus offered testily, throwing another look at his dead brother. Not sure why he kept engaging his hallucination, if it was anything like feeding like birds then it was just encouraging insanity to stay.

"She ditched him plenty of times, it was her husband convinced her it was proper to keep her son. She threw him to the curb pretty fast when he was accused of being a Shadow too."

"Oh go to hell and die."

"I already died and I can't go to hell, Brutus destroyed my soul," Joel pointed out cheerfully, "You're stuck with me, brother. My little, mad brother."

"Does your Daddy usually talk to people that aren't there?" Bertie's small voice asked from across the room and Pyrrhus glanced over at the two boys, who apparently thought just because they were in a vacant muggle home – freshly built and for sale – rather than a hotel room that he couldn't hear across the room.

"Not usually," Oathan admitted and Bertie flinched when he noticed Pyrrhus looking, he turned back to his mirror, "You don't have to be scared of my Daddy, you know, he's really nice."

"Nice people don't take children away from their families."

"He has a point, you know?" Joel pointed out.

"I never said I was a nice person," Pyrrhus countered truthfully, "There's no such thing as a nice person. Everyone is bad. Everyone. Only infants are innocent and that's just because they don't know anything, they're infants."

"Daddy has beended nice to you, Daddy has not hurt you," Oathan's voice drew him back to the children's conversation, "He's nice and he's trying to stop the war and get peace for us, some of the times you have to do bad things to make a good thing happen."

"I don't care about the war, I miss my family," Bertie whimpered, the kid was such a crybaby. Oathan was younger and had been through worse but he wasn't that bad, Oathan must just be stronger he realized, "I just want to go home."

"Well it's your family's fault that you're not home. My Daddy would letted you go home if they just do what he wants, maybe your Mother just doesn't want you back. Mothers are like that."

"No, they're not!" Bertie insisted with an unusual burst of determination, "Mummy's love their children."

"Do not," Oathan spat and Pyrrhus spared a glance to see his son pointing to the scars on his face, "See these? My _Mother_ did that to me and I have more scars under beneath my shirt that she gived me."

"Your own Mother?" Bertie repeated, his little jaw dropping in absolute shock at this revelation. Oathan nodded.

"My own Mother. When I turned two, she scarred the Shadow Mark on me – which really, _really_ hurts - and hurted my face when I struggled. She left me in a bad place where they hurt Oathan. And when I turned three, she hurted my face again when I begged her to let me go home," Oathan recounted with his watery, "Maybe they don't want you back. Mothers don't love their children."

"I'm sorry your Mummy hurted you," Bertie offered, sounding sincere before swallowing and gesturing to the scars he had from Greyback, "But do you know how I got _my_ scars?"

"A werewolf. Fenrir Greyback."

"He camed to our house, I don't know how he got but the sound woke me and I went downstairs. Greyback was attacking my family, he hitted my Daddy's legs and he crawled into the basement. He closed the door behind him and locked it with my sisters and brother banging on the door begging to be let in so they would be safe too," Bertie told him in a quieter tone, looking upset, "And do you know where my Mummy was?"

"No."

"Jumping in front of them to protect my sisters and brother, Greyback was hitting her with his claws over and over and she was screaming and screaming but she didn't move. She didn't move because she wanted to protect her children not hide and leave us to die," Bertie recounted, fresh tears leaking from his eyes and his voice cracked, "They think I am too young to rememrember but I can't forget. Then Mummy went quiet, she was so hurt she fell asleep and Greyback lifted his claws again and lifted them high."

"He was going to kill her?" Oathan guessed, possibly correctly but Bertie ignored it.

"But Agnes jumped in the way to protect Mummy and half her face got hit instead, there was so much blood. Then Flynn threwed a lamp at Greyback and yelled to run, Greyback went for him and we ran for the front door but it wouldn't open. Greyback hit Flynn aside and ran for us instead, Ivy pushed me behind her and told me to go back upstairs. He got her then chased me too and then it was over. Most horrible, scariest night of my whole entire life," Bertie concluded and tried to wipe at his streaming tears, "But it made me know something good. My family is a family that will fight for each other and protect each other. I know they love me and want me back just like I know I feel the same about them, and I know my Mummy will try to protect me until she gets so hurt she goes asleep."

"Carver's right, you know? Crystal's a dead end on finding Jack," Joel spoke up again and Pyrrhus averted his eyes while his son tried to comfort Bertie, "Face it. You took a mad gamble and it didn't pay off. You've never going to find Jack Thorne, without him you'll never be able to make Antonius strong enough to stand a chance against the Shadow Master. You may as well return the boy then come back here, kill Oathan and yourself. You can't run forever and you can't protect him forever, maybe death will be kinder to you then life. You'll finally be free of me and Dad and all the other crap that's happened to you, and Oathan will die innocent not a mad, bad, broken wreck like you."

"I'm not giving up," Pyrrhus insisted, not ready to throw in the towel although tears did prick his eyes, "But maybe Crystal is a dead end. Bertie!"

Pyrrhus jumped up and the boy jumped even higher, he grabbed him by the shoulder and led him outside. He apparated them both back to his home, expecting to see Crystal getting the happiest surprise of her life to find her youngest some home, unhurt and free. She wasn't there though. He did a quick run through of the house and found it empty. He decides to show mercy and she couldn't even be bothered to stay in the house? Who did that?! He couldn't very well leave the boy alone so he returned them back to the vacant house.

"Sorry, Bertie, false alarm," Pyrrhus offered as he released the sniffling boy back to his son and picked up the mirror, glad to see Joel was gone. So much for that idea but he had tried.

* * *

"Tell them not to leave anything behind that they want, they might not be able to come back here," John told her after filling him in and having sending Agnes and Flynn off to pack.

"Why not?" Crystal wondered in surprise and John looked slightly incredulous.

"What do you think the Soul Eaters are going to do when this is done?" John questioned of her, "Do you really think if you do everything they want that they'll just give you back your children and live happily ever after?"

"I… Yes? No? I don't know," Crystal stammered out uncertainly and wrapped her arms around herself protectively, John's expression remained as unreadably stoic as ever, "I guess I haven't really thought about it."

"You and your children will just be a loose end when you've outlasted your purpose, memory charms can be broken but the dead can't talk. They'll kill you and the girl they took at the very least."

"What… What makes you think that?"

"Because I was a Death Eater, this is what we would've been told to do," John said seriously and Crystal's eyes drifted to his arm where he had the mark, "I know Selwyn, he's cruel, merciful and thorough. If he's in charge of this operation then he'll definitely be ready to kill you."

"Did you ever do anything like this when you were a Death Eater?" Crystal asked worriedly and John hesitated before replying.

"Not this exact situation, no. But this is what they will do, trust me. And even if you don't believe me, Bambi, do you really think it's wise to stay in a place that they know your location?"

"So what, I should… I should go into hiding?" Crystal wondering, thinking it sounded insane.

"If you want your children to live," John said seriously and she sighed.

"I'll think about it."

"Think fast and move faster," John offered as Crystal went to pass the world along to her kids and pack herself, for Ivy and Bertie too.

She returned when they were done and John teleported them away one by one, still wondering whether it was to trust a man who admitted to being part of a group who apparently mercilessly killed families who were loose ends. She still found herself failing to think of another option though. She wasn't sure where she'd been expecting John to take them but she hadn't expected it to be a dump, some old farmhouse with a roof so badly patched it looked almost like a quilt. The windows were all boarded up or cracked and it didn't improve up close, the wood the place was made up of looked gritty and unfinished, rotting or rotten.

If she'd thought it might be a magical cover for a nice interior, she'd also have been wrong. Inside had the same rotted wood for the walls, floorboards, doors, door and window frames, even the ceiling looked just like the floorboards from upstairs. There was a sagging fireplace with a smoldering fire inside it, a table and couch – also with rotted wood – which had upholstery on it at least and there were two other doors leading off. On the table was a steaming black cauldron, an assortment of random items consisting mostly of stuff she'd seen in apothecaries but there was also, bandages, parchment – a map upon closer inspection – and a knife. There were several stacks of boxes littered around as well as if John was in the process of moving, her children didn't look impressed.

"Nice place," Crystal said politely and John grunted.

"It's okay, I know it's a dump," John admitted as he strode straight over to the cauldron as if to check on it, "This is what you're left with when the Ministry takes your family's money as reparations for their crimes."

"Why don't you kids go have a look around?" Crystal offered to them, they spared her a glance but said nothing as they wondered out, "If that's okay with you."

"It's fine. There's nothing to see away," John brushed it off as he stirred the cauldron.

Crystal set down her bags and started over to him, she paused only when she noticed the contents of one of the boxes. Some old children's things, some stuffed animals, picture – moving ones – books and dolls. She picked up the largest doll in surprise, she wouldn't have thought a little girl lived here.

"Do you have a daughter?" Crystal wondered curiously.

"No," John shot it down immediately and she scowled in confusion, John must have noticed as he elaborated, "I had a niece. I raised her since she was four years old."

"Is she in Hogwarts?" Crystal guessed and pain flashed in John's eyes, he kept them on the potions.

"She died in Hogwarts. The attack a few months ago."

"I'm sorry," Crystal offered with a rush of sympathy as she put the doll back down, John shrugged it off but his eyes still looked sad as he tended the potion. She walked over to him, "What was she like?"

"She was a good kid," John said quietly as he sprinkled some yellow dust into the potion and stirred it, "Makes me almost wish I'd raised her to be a worse person, maybe if she'd tried to save herself instead of random students stuck outside then she'd still be alive. It's always the good ones who die."

"Yeah," Crystal muttered, wondering if Michael would be in such bad shape if he was a more selfish person, "But at least you can be proud."

"Yeah," John murmured and nodded slightly as he dropped in some purple stuff, "I'll have to cut you with a knife to get your blood and the wound can't be healed, when it closes it won't track them anymore."

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Once. I used it to find my niece," John told her and finally spared her a glance, she looked at him with interest, "I was a Death Eater, I did ten years for my crimes. All my family was Death Eaters, my grandfather and father died in the wars though so it was just my brothers and I. I gave myself up while they fled, my eldest brother eventually died when they caught up to him and tried to arrest him and my middle brother was arrested himself just before I was released. He got life. He told me about his daughter, he begged me to find her when I got out and make sure she was okay because he didn't think her mother would care for her. I used this spell to find her."

"Did it work?" Crystal asked with a mixture of hope for her children and curiosity.

"Yep. Found her abandoned, her muggle mother had locked her in a closest and left her to die. She has half-dead when I found her, starved and dehydrated. Her fingers were bloody from clawing at the door to try get out, she was so weak and frightened of dying alone in the dark… And I promised I'd take care of her, keep her safe…"

"That's horrible," Crystal stated when John trailed off, feeling quite sick at the thought of someone doing that to their child.

"It was. But my point was spell will locate them even if they're in a bad state," John pointed out as he went over to the door her kids and left through.

"What happened to her father?"

"Killed himself in Azkaban," John said bluntly and picked up the knife, he dipped it in the potion and lifted it out now with a watery sheath around it, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Crystal confirmed with a deep breath as she rolled up her sleeve, offering her arm to him. He took her wrist and held the blade to her forearm, she tried to brace herself but John hesitated as he glanced at her, "What's wrong?"

"You know this will hurt, right?"

"And you think I've never been hurt before?" Crystal scoffed and John slowly turned back to the knife, she bit her tongue to stop herself crying out as the blade tore through her arm. John held her arm over the cauldron, letting the crimson liquid fall in, "Is that enough?"

"No, it needs quite a bit," John shook his head while the cut continued to sting painfully and the potion hissed with the addition, "What happened to their father?"

"What?"

"The father of your younger kids."

"He erm… He went to jail and my ex-boyfriend killed him there," Crystal offered, starting to feel a bit light-headed from the blood loss.

"Why was he in jail?"

"H-He was abusive to my eldest son and I."

"Did he beat him?"

"Yes," Crystal admitted guiltily.

"Did he beat you?"

"Y-Yes," Crystal mumbled, not wanting to talk about it.

"Did he rape you?" John asked and Crystal could only flinch, John moved her arm away and started to bandage her arm, "That's enough."

"Okay," Crystal muttered, still feeling woozy and John helped her to sit down as he bandaged her arm, "Did… Did it work?"

"Let's find out."

John took a deep breath as he stood and returned to the cauldron, he waved his wand over it and started speaking words she didn't understand. It had stopped steaming and abruptly he slashed his wand through the air, the potion lurched out of the cauldron. The liquid was the color of blood and spiraled out like some kind of crimson snake, it disintegrated in the air and rained down on the map. John peered over it, breathing heavily as he scanned it.

"One in Hogwarts, two here which means the other two dots are the locations of your missing children," John said, sounding almost as if he was speaking to himself now, "One in a town, which I'd guess Florian, and one more isolated out in the country, which I'd guess Soul Eaters. At any rate, we got them. You're getting your children back tonight."

* * *

**Part 5: **Many Happy Returns

* * *

John gave Crystal some Blood-Replenishing potion before teleporting her back home to wait for Jack, she just sat at the kitchen table and tried to keep her eyes open. She was still feeling weak from blood loss and cold, John said she had to pace herself with the potion. Jack hadn't exactly specified when he would show up but she felt increasingly anxious he wouldn't appear at all, she wasn't entirely convinced he'd show in the first place. She'd given John her phone to ring him from the house phone if Jack appeared, she wasn't sure how it fit into his plans if Jack didn't show up. She was afraid to hope John was right.

"Hey," a familiar voice said from behind her and Crystal stood, spinning in shock.

Sure enough, there was Jack Thorne standing behind her. He looked exactly the same as the last time she'd seen him, she wasn't sure why she was surprised. He had the same sapphiric eyes set in a handsome face, dark unruly hair that he kept short and a muscular build. He was dressed casually, jeans and a leather jacket. Nothing about his appearance indicated what he'd done, what he'd become. Looks could be deceiving though.

"Jack," Crystal breathed as she drank in his appearance, still surprised to see him and starting to feel hurt at what he'd done, "I can't believe you really came."

"I still love you, Crystal, I'll always come if you call," Jack assured her gently as he approached, Crystal wrapped her arms protectively around herself before he smirked, "_Please, you nearly chickened out several times."_

"Are you still killing criminals?" Crystal blurted out before he could argue more with himself.

_Of course they are, everyone you screw ends up being a psycho,_ Bob's voice scoffed inside her head, _Things get worse, people get worse. They only get worse. Life goes down not up, if you weren't such a stupid piece of trash then you'd know this_

"We realized that we don't have to kill criminals, we can already see the colors of people's souls. We already know who's good and bad. We only destroy the souls of those who aren't pure, white souls so it's okay," Jack told her and Crystal squeezed her eyes shut, her heart twisting in pain at what he'd become. He'd been nice once, they'd been happy once, "_You're in more perpetual anguish than usual, why did you call us here? Is something the matter?"_

"Pyrrhus Florian is looking for you," Crystal said with a sigh as she opened her eyes, "He took Bertie, he won't give him back unless I find you."

"_What does he want with us?"_

"I have no idea. But I have an address you're supposed to meet him, please go to him."

"_Are you mad?"_ Jack scoffed, "_You want us to risk our life to meet a lunatic and for what? Bertie isn't even the one that's Jack's son, he's Bob's. Why should we care?"_

"Because he's still _my_ son, my baby boy," Crystal protested, feeling tears prick her eyes at his words, "If you really care about me at all then you'll please do this for me."

"Of course I really care about you, we'll do it," Jack assured her before scowling, "_No, we won't. Jack, Bertie was the one we wanted to kill, he's not your son. Why should we risk a trap to save this child?"_

"Why not?" Jack snapped angrily at himself, "Do you fear Pyrrhus Florian, One? _Of course I don't! _Then why not?! We have nothing to fear from him! We can destroy his soul if he tries to harm us, we can save Bertie. It's no risk for us anyway."

"_I still don't see the point_," Jack insisted testily as he folded his arms, "_Why waste time on this?_ Because I want to help Crystal. _Well I don't._ We'll get to destroy a soul. _We just did that yesterday, we can live a few days without it. I'm enjoying learning to swim. Have you ever swam before, Crystal? It really is quite the sensation_."

"I-I have," Crystal stammered out uncertainly, finding him talking to himself quite disturbing and harder to distinguish between Jack and… One.

"Don't speak to her," Jack hissed at himself, "And I can't believe you're turning down a soul. _You're so much more willing to destroy them now that I don't have to worry about starving, instead I can focus on enjoying life_. Well maybe if you don't do this then I'll stop being so willing. _No, you won't_. Fine, I won't but I'll keep nagging you. Try enjoying life then. _Alright, let's get this over with then."_

_"Do we get a kiss as a reward for heroically saving the boy? Been awhile since we did that, that's pretty fun," _Jack wondered with a smile before his expression flashed to one of anger, "Don't speak to her! We'll save Bertie and save him just because I care."

"Thank you," Crystal muttered, grateful, disturbed and saddened all at the same time. She picked up the box lid, showing him - or them - the address, "That's where he wants you to meet him."

"We'll be back soon," Jack assured her before he vanished in a haze of darkness.

"What have you become?" Crystal asked of the silence with a sad sigh as she went to pick up the phone, punching in the numbers to the phone she'd given John. He didn't answer though, there was just a thunderous crack and he appeared, "Why does everyone teleport quieter then you?"

"Apparating. It's called apparating, not teleporting," John insisted and she noticed he'd changed into wizarding robes, black, "And I can't help it. I taught myself because I dropped out of Hogwarts to join the Death Eaters before they could teach me, I can do it but not as good or as quiet as most."

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," Crystal offered truthfully, it had been an idle question and she was feeling a bit light-headed, "Jack just came and left to go see Florian, I think."

"Okay then now's the time," John said more confidently and went over to the cabinets, he withdrew a mug and a bottle from his robes that he poured into the cup before striding back over, "You need to summon the Shadows now, give them the location of the meet. They should go there, less will stay behind to guard the girl. I'll retrieve her first since she's the one guarded, Bertie should be unprotected when he leaves so I'll get him second. I'll take them back to my home, leave them with their siblings then return for you. Okay?"

_It's going to fail, you know? Nothing ever goes right for dumb whores like you,_ Bob's voice taunted in her mind.

"Okay," Crystal nodded although still afraid to believe it would work and John handed her the mug, "What's this?"

"If the Shadow tries to kill you, throw it over them," John told her and she eyed the clear liquid worriedly, "I can't be in multiple places at once to protect you."

"What will it do?" Crystal asked nervously as she glanced back to the stoic face and met his harsh cerulean eyes.

"What needs to be done," John answered after a moment's hesitation.

"I erm… I don't think I want this," Crystal admitted, suspecting it did something bad as she tried to hand it back to him but he pushed it back to her and held her hands over the mug.

"My niece is dead," John stated bluntly, "She was all I had left in the world, all that mattered to me. And she's dead. Gone forever because _they_ killed her. I'd do _anything_ if it meant she'd be alive, whatever it takes, whatever the cost. You'll regret what you didn't do if your children die a lot more then you'll regret what you did do if your children live, would you rather your children live or the monsters who are willing to hack your children into tiny pieces?"

"My children," Crystal whispered with a pounding heart and John took a step back as he let her go, "Whatever it takes."

* * *

Pyrrhus Florian finished tucking Oathan into bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead, his three year old smiled at him as he closed his eyes to sleep. Pyrrhus stood with a sad sigh, wishing his father's way of saying goodnight could've been normal like that. He glanced over at Bertie's bed to make sure he was in it, he was lying on his side watching him and quickly slammed his eyes shut when he caught Pyrrhus looking. Pyrrhus shook his head as he wandered back over to his spot, he sat cross-legged on the table and took his mirror back out to watch for signs of life before he'd have to try catch a few z's himself.

He wasn't expecting to see anything, especially after finding Crystal's home empty when she'd tried to return Bertie earlier. He turned out to be phenomenally wrong though as he caught a glimpse of a man in the abandoned warehouse, he matched the description for Jack Thorne. Pyrrhus scrambled to get up excitedly and made sure his magical enchantments were still in place to protect the boys - as well as to make sure Bertie couldn't escape – before heading out, leaving his mirror behind and apparating to the warehouse. There was no time to waste, mostly because he was afraid of Jack leaving before he had a chance to speak to him.

"Jack Thorne, I presume?" Pyrrhus questioned cheerfully as he appeared, his eagerness shining through and he grinned as the man spun to face him, "And One, of course."

"_Thank you for noticing_," Jack said with a grin before his expression soured and his voice changed slightly, "That would make you Pyrrhus Florian then?"

"The one and only," Pyrrhus confirmed with a flourishing bow, "We have much to discuss."

"The only thing I'm interested in discussing is the return of Crystal's son."

"No, that's not very important but-"

Pyrrhus had started to brush it off when Jack disappeared into the shadows, he reappeared right in front of him before he had time to panic. Jack lashed out immediately with an unnaturally strong punch, Pyrrhus was thrown violently backwards and smacked painfully against the wall. He groaned in pain, wondering why people had to be so violent and felt fear creeping in over his delight at finding the man he'd been looking for. Jack was a _man_, he didn't like being alone with them. He got to his feet and jumped as Jack reappeared in front of him yet again, his fist already in motion to smash Pyrrhus' face into the wall. His skull was ringing as he crumpled to the ground, trying to decide whether it was wise to fight back against someone he wanted as an ally. He decided against it as a show of good faith.

"The only thing I'm interested in is returning Crystal's son to her! Where is he?!" Jack yelled, punctuating every single word with a vicious kick to his chest or stomach, "_I'm not, I couldn't care less but I am enjoying your pain."_

"Not until you hear me out," Pyrrhus insisted as he got back to his feet, resisting the urge to cringe at the throbbing and aching pain coming from his front now. It hurt to breathe too, a rib or two might've been cracked unhelpfully. Jack raised his fist again, "And hitting me is not going to allow me to talk any faster!"

"_What do you want then?"_ Jack wondered as he folded his arms, an eyebrow rising, "_You trying to kill us to get back into the Soul Eaters good books?"_

"No," Pyrrhus scoffed, "Quite the opposite. I have a plan to kill the Shadow Master and I need you."

"_Are you as really mad as they say? You think you can kill the Shadow Master? And you really think we'd risk fighting one of only two people in the world with the power to destroy us?"_

"I didn't say anything about us going up against the Shadow Master personally," Pyrrhus pointed out and Jack looked a bit more interested, still angry but slightly interested, "My plan involves us weakening her enough so that Calderon could kill her, he's the one who has to fight her. All we do is weaken her from afar and throw him out to fight her, he was willing at Hogwarts and he'd be willing again. He'd win if we weakened her, at the very least die destroying them both. Wouldn't you like that? The two people in the world with the power to destroy you dying? The war ending and your son being safe from it?"

"I'm listening," Jack admitted, slightly dubiously but still listening all the same.

Pyrrhus launched into an explanation of his plan, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. He stopped abruptly when he heard a slight popping sound, he froze midsentence and wandlessly acciod his mirror to his pocket as he noticed the shadows shifting and footsteps from outside. The Shadows had probably tracked him again or possibly Jack, they were probably surrounding the place. He tried to apparate just to test it and found himself incapable, they'd put up wards to trap him.

Jack also seemed to be listening to the footsteps and small pops as they gathered, Pyrrhus opened his mouth to ask if he was staying to fight or not because it would change the strategy. No sooner had he done that though then the doors and windows burst open, Jack grabbed him roughly and in the next instance they were hurtling through space. Cold, dark space but space nonetheless. They reappeared in the middle of nowhere, Pyrrhus wasn't sure where they were exactly but he was sure it was quite far from wherever they had been.

"You saved me," Pyrrhus pointed out, somewhat surprised by this.

"Give Crystal back her healthy, unhurt son - make sure to apologize too - and we're in, for now. If he's hurt we're not in and if he's dead then we'll kill you," Jack agreed reluctantly with a sigh, "Thousands have died already, millions of people are enslaved. Seven lives to end the war is a small price comparatively, even if one of those is a child, several are teenagers and one is Michael's best friend. Michael may be upset but at least he will be alive to be upset, Crystal too. Sacrifices must be made to protect the ones you love."

* * *

John left with another thunderclap and Crystal returned to the kitchen, putting the mug of strange potion and retrieving the grisly finger the Shadow man had given her. She sat down with the chair facing away from the table and resisted the urge to vomit as she squeezed it, she felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears with each passing second. Finally there was a pop and the heavyset man from before appeared before her, he hadn't changed out of his robes still spattered with her daughter's blood. Crystal slid the lid across the table to him.

"Pyrrhus Florian is meeting someone there now," Crystal informed him as the man picked up the lid and glance at the address, "Now give me my daughter back."

"We have to see if this checks out first," the man growled before disappearing once again.

_This will never work, you know?_ Bob's voice taunted in her mind, _She's dead. Bertie's dead. They're dead now, long gone from this world. Our children are dead because of you, you're so worthless you failed to protect him_

"Good news, scum," the man spat as he returned with another pop, "Your tip proved to be correct."

"So I get my daughter back?" Crystal wondered hopefully.

"You get her back, it'll just be on the other side," the man told her with a cruel smirk that sent a chill through her bones, "The only question that remains is how painfully I can make your death because I like killing muggle filth like you. And which of you bitches I should kill first."

"Pl-Please," Crystal stammered out fearfully and her heart thundered as her trembling hands picked up the mug, she held it close to her, "Selwyn said if I found him…"

"The problem is that you know too much now, too much that you could spill to the Aurors and if we gave you your sweet little girl back then you'd have no reason to not tell them."

"I won't tell them, I promise," Crystal pleaded desperately as she gripped the mug tighter, wondering whether she'd be capable of throwing it at him or what he even did, "I'll do whatever you want."

"I know," the man smiled as he leaned over her, putting one hand on her thigh and aiming his wand at her with the other, "Because I'm going to kill you in such slow agony that you'll be begging me for death in the end and in that moment, I'll grant you your wish and kill your little girl, maybe make a crown out of the rest of her fingers for you to wear."

Crystal flicked the mug and the water-looking liquid was splashed onto the man's face, for the briefest of seconds he started to laugh as he staggered back. And then he started to scream. There was a horrible hissing and his face started smoking, the potion was like acid eating through his flesh. He fell to the ground screaming, wiping at his face to try to get the potion off but all it did was start to melt away his fingers too. Crystal wasn't sure what compelled her to walk over and pour the rest over his head, his screaming intensified and then he was just dead.

Her insides churned, she felt physically sick at what she'd done but at the same time couldn't muster regret that he was dead. She clutched at her father's dog tags around her neck, wondering if he or her grandfather had ever killed anyone in the line of duty, wondering if John was killing anyone right now. She couldn't take her eyes off the corpse she'd killed, couldn't take her eyes off the gruesome mess of his flesh that was his face. She would've expected there'd be a horrible smell but it was more like bleach and something flowery, it reminded her a bit of tea tree oil. The silence was deafening, making it even more noticeable when she heard a pop. Crystal spun, expecting more Soul Eaters or Shadows or whatever they were called. It was the red-headed man though, Pyrrhus Florian, and he was gripping Bertie's shoulder.

"Mummy!" Bertie cried and Florian willingly let him go, he rushed towards her and Crystal enveloped him in her arms. She scooped him up, holding him so tightly as he sobbed into her shoulder and clung to her. She should've been happy but she couldn't take her eyes off Florian, fearful that he might decide to do as the man had, "Mummy."

"I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your aid," Florian offered and she felt a fragment of frustrating fear for Jack.

"What about Jack?" Crystal risked asking, noticing his face looked bruised. John was right, it did make someone look less threatening, "Did you hurt him?"

"No, I want his help not his death," Florian scoffed as if it was obvious and his violently violet eyes flickered to the body behind her, he looked almost amused, "And if you want to avoid yours, I suggest your run. The Shadows will kill you if they find you."

On that note, Florian turned away and disappeared with another crack. Crystal finally allowed the relief to flood through her, drops spilling from her eyes as she held her son close and kissed the top of his head, muttering declarations of love into his hair. She never wanted to let him go again, she was half-afraid if she put him down then she'd lose him again. She was only distracted by a sound like a thunderclap, spinning again to see John had returned. In one hand he held his wand and in the other, he had Ivy.

"Mummy!" Ivy cried desperately and John set her down, revealing that side of his face was suffering from a jagged cut and bleeding freely. Crystal crouched down and Ivy ran to her in tears, her left hand was in a bloody bandage. Crystal hugged her daughter to her, holding both her children close, "And Bertie, you're okay."

"Come on," John said gruffly, "You can't stay here, more will come."

"But you killed them all."

"And more will still come when they give up going after Florian," John pointed out and his eyes flickered to the dead man, "Or when they realize he's missing."

"Okay," Crystal nodded as she stood, taking her children by the hand and walking back over to John, "Take them to the Agnes and Flynn."

"I can still only apparate one at a time, I told you I'm not good at it."

Ivy discarded her hand reluctantly to take John's, seeming more comfortable with him then Bertie who eyed him fearfully. Crystal supposed it made sense as he'd just saved her whereas Bertie didn't know him, he kept a vice-like grip on her hand as John teleport- _apparated_ away with Ivy. Crystal hated seeing her go but it would only be for a second. He returned a second later to get Bertie, she had to pry his hand off hers so John could take him.

John returned a final time but didn't immediately do anything, up close she noticed his robes had blood on them. The wound on his face continued down his neck and to his shoulder, it seemed worse there or maybe had been injured with something else. His forearm was burned and there was a gash on his left side, the rest of the blood didn't look it was his. It silenced her from complaining about the brutality of the acid potion, he'd saved her children and gotten hurt doing it. Gratitude overwhelmed the bad.

"Thank you," Crystal offered gratefully while John continued looking stoic, "Really, I can't thank you enough."

"I told you they'd try to kill you," John said instead, ignoring her words and gazing at the body, "I'm sorry."

"Whatever it takes, right?" Crystal muttered, not wanting to talk about it as her eyes also lingered on it.

"I'd recommend faking your death and torching this place, the ones who went after Florian will be back and I doubt they're the only ones. They might not believe you really died but fire will make it harder to trace you and I doubt they put enough value on you to put too much effort into finding you, long as you be careful then you should be able to hide from them."

"What will I do? Where will I go?" Crystal questioned fearfully although she already recognized it was something she would have to do.

"I don't know. I'm not the boss of your life, Bambi," John insisted almost irritably, "Just make up your mind before the Shadows show up or I pass out from my injuries, if not your kids will be on their own. One thing at a time."

"Okay, okay burn the place," Crystal nodded as the urgency returned to her and John flicked his wand, all around them started to light up with fierce flames. She sighed heavily and tearfully as he took her hand, disappearing in a thunderclap and leaving her home to burn.


	4. Chapter 4: An Aura of Danger

_**Parts (13-17)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 4  
**

An Aura of Danger

* * *

**Part 1: **Life Goes On

* * *

"Well thanks a lot," Scorpius spat at Elm as the three of them headed down the tower, "You got us kicked out of the class. Why don't you just drop it, you jackass!"

"Why don't _you_ just drop it!" Elm countered equally angrily as they reached the foot of the steps and he stalked off in another direction, "And take your dog with you!"

"Don't call my friend a dog!"

"I just did!" Elm yelled back as he rounded the bend, Scorpius seriously considering going after him and dueling but he was too afraid of Rojer noticing and kicking the out permanently.

"So… I completely missed what happened. Why did I just get myself kicked out of the class?" Maurice wondered curiously.

Scorpius could only sigh in frustration, annoyed at getting kicked out of the class and angry at Elm for insulting Michael. He spent the rest of the evening working on his animagi training, in too bad a mood to feel like hanging out with his friends. They'd probably just nag him about finding out who tried to kill him anyway. Michael filled him and Maurice in on what the lesson had been about anyway, it had been focused on some of the processes used in Alchemy. Scorpius supposed at least he hadn't missed anything on souls but he still wasn't happy about it, the last thing he wanted was to be on Rojer's bad side.

"So Michael," Albus spoke up at double Herbology first thing the next day when they were preparing pots to plant some rare seeds, "See anything you like?"

"What?" Michael wondered in confusion.

"_Girls. _We still need to get you a girlfriend, remember?" Albus prompted and Michael rolled his eyes, he pointed to a random Gryffindor girl Scorpius didn't know the name of, "What about her? She's cute, eh?"

"She has a boyfriend," Rose pointed out testily, unlike Abby she wasn't fond of Herbology. Or at least not having to get your hands covered in soil.

"Oh right, well what about her then?" Albus said instead and jabbed his finger at another girl Scorpius didn't know the name of.

"Also has a boyfriend."

"What about her?" Albus complained, pointing at yet another girl and Scorpius scowled to himself at how few names he'd bothered to learn the past five years, "Does she have a boyfriend too?"

"No but she's got a girlfriend."

"Her?" Albus wondered hopefully, pointing to the girl next to her.

"That would be her girlfriend," Abby pointed out and laughed as Albus threw up his hands in exasperation.

"How are we supposed to get Michael a girlfriend if all the pretty ones are taken?"

"Not everyone's taken, just the ones you're pointing at. Now she's single, so is she and her. I don't know them so they might be single," Abby offered as she gestured to some of the other girls in the room, one of whom he was happy to name as Etta Hayes from Alchemy class. Scorpius decided more teachers should make them say their names.

"Before you start picking me out a girlfriend, I'd like to point out that I don't want one and I'm not dating," Michael said firmly.

"It might be good for you, it's nice having someone."

"If he says he's not interested then you can't force him," Maurice spoke up, "Nor should you pressure him, dating only ends in pain."

"Maybe you both should get dates," Albus offered and if looks could kill, Maurice would've just murdered Albus, "What? It's been like six months or around then, you should get back out there and find someone else."

"It has not been six months and I should not get back out there!" Maurice snapped, glaring angrily at his friend, "I don't want someone else, I want Lenore."

"I'm sure Lenore would want you to move on," Rose added and Maurice turned his dark gaze to her instead.

"You may have hated Lenore but I loved her, if I ever want to date anyone else it will take more than a few freaking months! Don't you people understand that?!"

"Is there a problem?" Professor Longbottom asked as he came over.

"I want to sit somewhere else, Rose is being mean to me," Maurice decided and the professor gestured that was alright.

"You know, I'm starting to think Maurice has developed some kind of issue with me," Rose said with a sigh, Scorpius thought this may be possible and couldn't help but notice that Maurice seemed distracted and upset the rest of the lesson.

The rest of the day passed by better, teachers seemed to finally be moving on from the NEWT talks and on to doing actual work. Scorpius was glad to be doing things again and doing it well, in Transfiguration and Charms they started doing non-verbal magic which only Scorpius excelled at thanks to his training with Varanian. Only he and Maurice managed anything although in his classmates' defense, those particular lessons were just single ones. It was almost amusing though, doing spells they'd learned back in First Year nonverbally – or the rest of the class failing at it – which was quite nostalgic. It was a double edged sword though, actual work meant actual homework to go with it. He had a feeling those gaps in the schedule would not be as relaxing as Albus had hoped. And finally, the day ended with Scorpius trudging back up the staircase for the final class of the day which was again Alchemy. This time, the class – unfortunately still nine of them, Elm hadn't quit – remembered Rojer's warning yesterday and they went in and took their seats.

"You see, English? Doors are your friend," Rojer commented from his usual seat at the front of the class, he had a cauldron bubbling beside him and was chopping up some stems. He tossed the in before standing, "Since all of you are now here, this day you will learn the seven planetary aspects."

"Well we would have been here yesterday if you hadn't kicked us out," Elm grumbled unhappily, "Normal people give detentions, you know?"

"When I go to school, they punish with the whip. Could be worse so do not complain, just behave."

"That's barbaric," Elm complained while Rojer started drawing seven symbols on the board, Scorpius recognized a couple vaguely from the first lesson, "Where the hell did you go to school?"

"Bratuslaw Institution in Poland."

"Are you Polish?" Knight blurted out curiously and Rojer shook his head as he seemed to finish drawing his symbols.

"No but I go to wizard school there as a child," Rojer said as he turned back to them, "So does anyone know what are the seven planets?"

"Erm… Isn't there nine planets though?" Orhan Eklund spoke up nervously.

"Yes there are but in the past they were not discovered. They look at the stars and they notice some of them move, they call these wandering stars which in Ancient Greek is where the word planets come from so you know. They did not count Earth so we have Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn," Rojer informed them and pointed out the corresponding symbols as he spoke, "Mercury is easy to remember in English, is dominate the metal of the same name. Venus dominates Copper, Mars for Iron, Jupiter for Tin and Saturn for Lead. The last two are not planets as we know today but are count here, the Sun and the Moon for Gold and Silver respectively. They correspond to different organs also and influence the different things, this is important to remember when doing practical so I advise you to take note."

The class obliged and took notes as Rojer went through the planetary aspects, including giving examples. Rojer seemed to get bored though and got them starting to make one of the examples he'd mentioned, yet again making it through with them at a slow pace. Not that it felt slow, it wasn't something to rush through or at least not when they were still getting used to calcination or edulceration because Rojer seemed capable of going much faster. They didn't have time to finish it before the lesson's end so he taught them to transmute what they had so far into a solid substance to store it, Scorpius noticed again that Rojer's limping leg seemed to pain him. Once more they filed out with Rojer willing to put everything away, again Scorpius stayed behind to help Rojer with it all.

"Let me help with that," Scorpius volunteered and Rojer sighed.

"If you wish," Rojer muttered as they started carrying things over to the sink.

_I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father. I killed your father._

"Another good class," Scorpius complimented as Rojer filled up the sink, trying to sound cheerful and feeling quite determined to get on good terms with him.

"If you say so."

"And I erm… I… I wanted to apologize, you know for yesterday," Scorpius offered more nervously as Rojer started cleaning the things, Scorpius putting them away, "I think your punishment was pretty fair."

"I am glad you approve, I was so worry you would not," Rojer quipped dryly and Scorpius decided to just ignore it.

"And I hope you realize that I was only to defend my friend. Don't you think you should defend your friends?"

"Not in class."

"Fair enough," Scorpius nodded as he put away the last thing, he could see the logic in that. Scorpius caught Rojer rubbed his leg with a pained expression as he turned back, "Does your leg pain you?"

"All of the time. The injury cause chronic pain," Rojer admitted as he gestured to the door, "You can go now, it is done."

Scorpius left him to go join his friends for dinner, guilt gnawing at him once again. Rojer suffered chronic pain in his leg, it was no wonder he seemed so… bitter and… unfriendly. Maybe if he hadn't killed Ashylos then he'd know some way to ease his son's pain if not cure it completely, Ashylos had lived for a hell of a long time and seemed pretty knowledgeable. He wondered if Maurice had been right when he'd suggested Rojer had been tortured by Grindelwald's men, maybe Michael would have some idea of how to help. He'd murdered his father, the least he could do was something to help him in the present. He thought Ashylos would want that, he hadn't forgotten Rojer.

"Do you know Rojer's lame leg causes him constant pain?" Scorpius told his friends as he sat down with his friends, they collectively rolled eyes and threw limbs up in exasperation, "I'm serious about this-"

"Scorpius-" Michael started to say but Scorpius cut him off.

"-This is bad, we should help him. It's no wonder he's so unhappy if he's in pain all the time, Ashylos wouldn't want this-"

"Scorpius-"

"-I realize if it could be cured then he probably have been but there has to be something we can do, we can't just let him suffer-"

"Scorpius-"

"-And he mentioned they used the whip in the wizarding school he went to as punishment, do you think it's possible that could've had an impact on his leg somehow? And before you say it, I'm not obsessing over Rojer, I'm just being a good student-"

"Scorpius!" Michael snapped at him and Scorpius turned to him finally.

"What?!"

"The Shadow Master made his next move. Cairo, Egypt fell today," Michael told him and Scorpius groaned, letting his head fall into his hands, "Wow, you're talkative when you're obsessing."

Scorpius went to bed after his animagi training feeling rather unhappy, the Shadows had now launched their attack on Egypt and somehow he didn't think it would fare any better than Greece and Turkey had. If he couldn't help Rojer then the least he could do was be out there fighting the Shadows with Varanian and the rest of them, he wondered how what he was thinking and what he was planning. He wondered how Molly was doing and Latimer, if they'd learned anything, if they were helping. He was lying all cozy in bed while his girlfriend was out there risking her life, what kind of boyfriend did that? Not to mention all the others risking their lives fighting a war he was responsible for because he hadn't killed the Shadow Master when he'd had the chance, he hadn't even killed Brutus. What kind of person did that? What kind of person was he? And he couldn't even do anything, he was still bound by the trace.

Scorpius wasn't sure if he slept at all that night, he wasn't aware of sleeping and his string of thoughts ceasing but he also didn't feel exceptionally tired or anything. He trudged down to breakfast where Michael was reading a letter, his face twisted up in a scowl. He glanced up when Scorpius approached and handed the letter to him before he could ask what was going on, it was a short message but nonetheless shocking.

_Michael,_

_Soon you will probably be taken aside and informed that the little ones and I were killed in a fire, this is not true and we are all very much alive. There is too much to say in a letter, I will explain more when I see you in person so don't risk writing back and tell no one. I just wanted you to know in case you worried, take care and stay safe._

_Lots of love,_

_Crystal_

_PS: This is charmed to burn up a few minutes after reading so watch your fingers_

"What the hell?" Scorpius wondered and Michael could only shrug with an expression of astonishment as Maurice joined them.

"Why are you getting mail from Lenore's owl?" Maurice questioned suspiciously as he put a hand on the necklace, Scorpius handed him the letter which he quickly skimmed, "How odd. Still doesn't explain Lenore's owl."

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't Lenore's owl," Michael insisted as they sat, the letter incinerating and leaving no trace of itself as promised, "What the hell?"

"Well technically it's her uncle's but I'm quite sure."

"Why would your dead girlfriend's uncle be letting my mother use his owl?"

"Maybe it's just that," Scorpius offered as they started putting food onto their plates, "Lenore died, maybe he had no one to write to anymore so he sold it."

"Why would my mother have wanted to buy an owl when she is well aware you can pay for public ones?"

"Your own tend to be faster and more reliable."

"Fine but how would _she_ know that?" Michael questioned in exasperation, "Crystal doesn't know a lot about owls or magic. How could she even afford it? Money's tight."

"I think it's possible he sold the owl. What I'm curious about is how the letter was charmed, a muggle is not capable of that so she must have gotten someone to do it for her," Maurice spoke up, sounding intrigued, "An owl you can buy but someone to charm the letter is a bit more difficult and if you claim she didn't know a lot about these things, someone must have told her about it and who would do that? She might've hired an independent investigator to help her fake her death."

"And that is what I really want to know, why will people think they died in a fire anyway?! What possible reason would she have for faking her death?! What is she planning on doing?! And the little ones have school, what about that?!" Michael demanded and rubbed his temple, "They're _muggles_, what could possibly be going on to cause this? It's not even been a week since I left! What could've happened in less than a week?!"

"Maybe Jack returned and threatened them?" Maurice wondered and Michael sighed heavily, looking upset.

"I guess anything is possible," Michael muttered and unenthusiastically started on his food, "Why not?"

After breakfast they had double Charms first thing, the nonverbal magic continued to be a struggle for those not he or Maurice although Rose and a handful of others did make their feather flutter once or twice by the end of the lesson. His friends then had a free while he, Maurice and Michael trudged back to Rojer's tower for the only morning Alchemy lesson although it was still a double. For once Rojer was not sitting at the front of the class when they sat down, instead he limped in from the other two that wasn't the store cupboard which Scorpius would guess led to his quarters. He was looking grumpier then usual and sat down with a hand over his mouth as he yawned, he rubbed his eyes.

"Are you tired?" Knight inquired worriedly and Rojer turned to him with his head propped up on an elbow.

"I is not use to wake up so early, who is wake up at such an ridiculous hour?" Rojer grumbled as he rubbed his eyes again.

"Erm… Its half past ten in the morning," Martin Hargrave pointed out.

"And? Who wake up in the morning?"

"Erm… Everyone?"

"Everyone is stupid," Rojer complained and let his head fall into his hands, "I am being too old for this."

"How old are you?" Knight blurted out curiously.

"Eighty-nine."

"Are you sure you don't mean _forty_-nine?" Elm wondered, the class not looking convinced, "I don't know how it is in Poland but in English eighty is a very high number, there's no way you're_ that_ old. You're not even gray."

"I mean eighty," Rojer insisted incredulously and moved his head off his hand, "I know what the numbers are and what age I am."

"Are we carrying on with what we started yesterday?" Nott questioned as Rojer rubbed his eyes again.

"No, we can do this tomorrow," Rojer shook his head vigorously, "For today, I want you to look at the Alchemy books that you should of gotten for the class. Pick a chapter, whichever of the chapters interest you most. Read it and then write an essay about what you learn, if you do not finish in lesson then you can finish on your own time. Now do this, read in silent but you can talk to yourselves when you are writing if you still are working."

The class begrudgingly pulled out text books and started skimming for the most interesting thing, no chapter titles immediately jumped out as being about soul so he settled for one about Albus Dumbledore. It talked about his discovery of the twelve uses for Dragon's blood and work with arguably the most famous Alchemist, Nicolas Flamel. Scorpius half-expected Rojer to fall asleep, he seemed about to nod off and drummed is fingers idly on the table while they read but by the time Scorpius had started writing, Rojer had acquired a deck of cards and was starting to construct a house of cards with them. Nott and Knight talked amongst themselves as they worked, Orhan and Martin too but the others didn't. Michael was still reading and Maurice hadn't put a hand to his translator necklace, seeming absorbed in the work so Scorpius worked in silence until the bell went for lunch.

"Go on now," Rojer offered without looking, gesturing to the door for them to start filing out and immediately returning to his large intricate house of cards.

"Cool house of cards," Knight commenting, sounding impressed.

"This is no house, this is the palace of cards."

"Very true," Knight laughed cheerfully as he left, giving Rojer a wave of farewell, "See you tomorrow."

"Nice palace," Scorpius told him, hanging behind as the others left despite his friends' eye rolls.

"If you say this," Rojer shrugged, still intensely focused and Scorpius still stood, "There is nothing to pack up, you realize this?"

"Yes I realized, I just erm… noticed there didn't seem to be any chapters about souls."

"There will be soul mention but Rayan teach the basics so the books he choose is basics, soul is more advance. The first fundamental law of magic is 'tamper with the deepest of the mysteries – the source of life, the essence of self – only if prepared for consequence of the most extreme and dangerous' and so soul magic is highly illegal, difficult and is associated with the Dark Magic because of this. The books on it tend to be more specialize."

"Right."

"Why is your interest in this?" Rojer questioned curiously while still working on his card palace.

"I err… my-my friend, his soul was… damaged. That's where I met Rayan, he was… helping," Scorpius stammered out as he was taken by surprise by Rojer's curiosity, something occurred to him as he said the words though as he recalled the meeting.

_"…Stuff about souls is taught in Alchemy?" _

_"It's a branch of it, one not often looked into for obvious reasons but yes," Rayan had answered quite willingly, "A good friend of mine knows more about it then I do though, however my knowledge will hopefully be sufficient enough to help your friend…"_

"Right," Rojer nodded, still focused on the cards.

"You know, Rayan mentioned he had a friend who knew more about it then he did," Scorpius prompted and caught Rojer's eyes flickering to him, "That was you, wasn't it?"

"Maybe. I do not know Rayan's mind," Rojer shrugged and leaned back in his chair, finally giving him his attention, "I do know a lot about soul magic though, like you have interest. He did speak to me about this and I advise and your friend lives."

_"…Why doesn't your friend just help?" Scorpius questioned and Rayan laughed before it became a cough, quite a viscous one at that._

_"My friend is not the most social. He has a brilliant mind and is a brilliant man - at least when you get to know him - but he... he is quite the Timonist. I'd have to be on my death bed for him to step foot outside his home..."_

"How is Rayan?" Scorpius asked, worried suddenly that the man was actually on his death bed and Rojer's face registered surprise at the change in subject.

"He is… He is not so well," Rojer admitted, a hint of concern in his usual dry tone, "His wife is with him, she is very worry."

"I hope he'll be okay, he seemed nice and I never got to thank him for saving my friend's life," Scorpius offered truthfully and Rojer nodded, his gaze drifting off sadly. He wanted to ask more but he thought he had taken the conversation the wrong way for that.

"He is a good man, he was happy to help. He is very kind, he always like to help people."

"All the more reason he deserves the thanks," Scorpius pointed out as he turned to leave and Rojer waved his hand, reducing the cards to dust, "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

**Part 2: **The Tryout

* * *

Sure enough, the next day Michael was taken aside to see the Headmaster where he was informed his family had died in a fire. They didn't know any more then that so Michael had nothing more to go off of in figuring out what had really happened to his family, they neither knew nor cared the specifics of the fire or anything useful. Scorpius supposed it could be worse, at least they were alive. Michael still had to endure people offering their condolences and teachers being surprised he was in class, assuring him they understood if he wanted to sit it out. He either had to fake sadness or come across as heartless, he just had to stick to the claim of wanting to keep busy to take his mind off it.

Rojer alone didn't say anything which Michael seemed pleased with as they finished up the elixir they'd making beforehand, something that was originally lead that was used to repair the enamel of teeth since teeth was one of the things lead corresponded to for Saturn. The lesson ended just after that, first week of classes complete. Except for people who had Astronomy but Scorpius wasn't one of them. They started to file out and once again, Scorpius stayed behind with the intention of helping pack up and this time Michael also stayed to ask for an extension on his essay due to his Dyslexia. Knight stopped him though.

"Hey Michael, I um… I wanted to say I heard about your family and I'm really sorry," Knight offered, sounding rather sincere, "I know… I know how hard it is to lose people like that, if you ever want to talk… Hang in there."

"Thanks, Kenelm," Michael nodded in reply and Knight mustered an encouraging smile, clapping on the shoulder before leaving.

"What happen to your family?" Rojer questioned curiously, scowling slightly and folding his arms as Michael approached him.

"They died in a fire a few days ago," Michael lied very convincingly, doing his best to sad.

"No they did not," Rojer stated incredulously and Scorpius was glad he wasn't in Rojer's line of sight because he was sure the alarm showed on his face, Michael managed to look offended.

"How can you even say that?!"

"Because you lie to me just now when you say they died in a fire."

"I did not," Michael insisted determinedly, "The Headmaster told me this morning."

"Maybe he tell you but you know this is not true," Rojer pointed out with a disinterested shrug.

"What makes you so sure he's lying?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"He is not act like someone who just lost all this family, you do not act like your friend just lost all this family and he lies just now," Rojer explained as his gaze shifted to him, "I do well to read people, words are always different but people are the same. You pay good attention to this when you struggle with the words because there is too many language so I pick this up, he is a better liar then you but a liar none of the less."

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Scorpius!" Michael protested irritably.

"What? He knows," Scorpius pointed out and Michael put a hand to his head, Rojer just shook his.

"I really do not care, it is not affect me if this family pretend death," Rojer stated with a shrug and started clearing away the things, "Just do not tell lies to me."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered gratefully as he started to help Rojer while Michael tossed his essay onto the pile and stalked out without another word, Scorpius felt the need to elaborate, "I'm sure he's thankful too, he's just… just stressed with NEWTs and the full moon on Monday. Since he's a werewolf he… erm… he transforms and it's hard for him, you know? And then he gets this letter from his mother saying that he'll be told they died in a fire but to not worry because they're alive, they might be in danger or something so staying quiet is… good."

"You and your friends have the strangest of lifes. I will not speak of it."

"This is nothing, you should hear about the other years we've been here," Scorpius pointed out with a shake of his head before feeling an explosion of panic in case Rojer did ask him to elaborate.

"Maybe some other of times," Rojer said disinterestedly as he started filling the sink, much to Scorpius' relief. He finished helping him back things away and bade him a good weekend before heading down, surprisingly Michael was waiting for him at the bottom of the tower.

"What the hell, Scorpius?!" Michael snapped at him angrily.

"What?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"Why did you tell him?! Being Ashylos' son does not make him trustworthy, what if he gets my family killed for real?!"

"He already knew!" Scorpius protested defensively and truthfully, "And he won't tell anyone. Rayan said he's not very social and I think this is true, he's not going to say anything and he's not a bad guy."

"Scorpius, you don't know anything about him! He could be a _very_ bad guy."

"He's not, I know he's not," Scorpius said with absolute certainty and Michael looked at him as if he'd gone mad, "Ashylos was a hero, and he didn't raise his son to be a bad person. Despite not liking people, he's here out of loyalty to his friend, he saved my life when he could easily have passed me by. I may not know a lot about him but I know that, your secret's safe with him."

"You better hope so," Michael muttered, his anger fading as they headed off for dinner.

Friday faded into a wet weekend, a sheet of rain pouring down outside while they were mostly indoors working on their mountain of homework. He got to his Fifth Year friends for the first time in what felt like all week due to the schedules, they were complaining about the hefty OWL workload.

"Pfft, that's nothing," Albus insisted, "OWLs are a piece of cake, you want to talk about hard? Try _NEWT_ work, now this stuff is killer. Except Astronomy. Still sleeping through that, Koray just has a melodic, sleep-inducing voice."

"If OWLs were a piece of cake, why did you fail to get any Outstandings?" Vern inquired of his cousin and Albus' face went as red as a Weasley's hair, "Even James got some Outstandings."

"He also got several Trolls," Albus protested defensively, "And I came close. I know I could've nailed Potions if that damn written hadn't been unnecessarily complex and difficult."

"Complex and difficult, well this is going to be a fun year," Orous sighed, scratching away at his parchment, "Maybe I can make up for it by being a good Captain. I book the pitch early for Sunday, when have you booked it for?"

"Booked the pitch?" Scorpius wondered in surprise and his friends – minus Maurice, who knew little about and didn't care for Quidditch – all turned to him.

"Captains are supposed to book the pitch for tryouts, remember?"

"You have done that, right?" Albus prompted worriedly, "I can't make the team if you don't make tryouts."

"It kind of slipped my mind," Scorpius admitted and they looked incredulous, "What?! There's a lot going on and I'm not used to this, it's not the end of the world anyway. There's a whole week, plenty of time. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been busy with NEWTs."

"Grozda lives for Quidditch. She's booked the pitch first thing Saturday, she's very serious about these tryouts."

"Sequoia's got it for Saturday afternoon," Abby spoke up cautiously, "I'm going to go watch and be supportive of boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend, who was too slow to get the pitch first thing," Albus pointed out with a smirk to which Abby gave a derisive snort.

"Well of course she gets it first thing, her father is the one who controls the pitch booking."

"I'll get it booked, okay?" Scorpius assured them.

In truth, Scorpius really felt like kicking himself and was rather ashamed. Forgetting to book the pitch was not a good start to his Captainship, he needed to do better. He actually left the Library to speak to Krum, not that his speed mattered since he'd already come last and the only timeslot left was the Sunday afternoon. Krum had no issue pointing out the other three had booked their slots by the time classes started, it had been a weekend they'd arrived in Hogwarts after all and he hadn't been bedridden from the poisoning for that long.

Scorpius spent the majority of his weekend practicing his animagi training, hoping in vain he could somehow master it before the full moon but alas, he did not. He did embarrassingly keep sprouting a tail and have to go to Marigold to reverse his hands being turned into hooves again, he couldn't do the reversal spell when he couldn't hold his wand after all. His failure resulted in Michael attacking himself again, a bad start to the week.

It wasn't as if Hogwarts was terrible, as they slid into the second week it came with the nice routine of classes – where Scorpius and Maurice continued to excel at nonverbal magic where others struggled - and – more unfortunately - homework. After a few lessons, Scorpius had decided that the new Transfiguration was definitely an improvement on Midas. She was kind, helpful and knowledgeable and Scorpius could only be disappointed they hadn't had her the previous year because more would probably be taking the class then, more would have passed Transfiguration at least.

Alchemy was the most prominent subject for Scorpius though, they did have it every weekday and it was a lot to learn. He was both fascinated and guilt-ridden whenever he saw Rojer, he continued staying behind after each class to help with the clean up or just to say hello in the case of Thursday. Rojer had them do the same as the previous week and build a miniature tower out of bits of rock while they worked, his assertion in the first class that he liked to keep his hands busy seemed very true.

It was more the things not happening that had Scorpius feeling glum, he wasn't succeeding at his animagi training, Michael had no more news or idea what was going on with his family, his guilt over killing Rojer's father didn't fade nor did his efforts to be kind to the Alchemist improve his general happiness, no one was stopping the Shadows' conquest of Egypt – despite fierce radio debate on the topic – and while he knew Gray were still fighting, he was no longer privy to what was happening. This was made even more frustrating now that Molly and Latimer were amongst them, they were helping and risking their lives while he was not. Their absence was also noticeable, he missed his girlfriend. And Latimer. And Calderon. There were no more lights in the hallways or random music, no more demented, high-pitched laughter echoing the halls. Scorpius missed that, he missed his cousin.

"I am so looking forward to the tryouts tomorrow," Albus said happily as they were getting to bed Saturday night.

"That's because you don't have to Captain them," Scorpius grumbled, anxious at the prospect of having to judge who was best.

"You're overthinking it," Michael insisted, "You just need to have some confidence, you know how to tell who is better at what."

"You looking forward to them tomorrow?" Albus questioned of Michael who shifted uncomfortably as he lay down.

"I don't know, I was thinking about not going."

"What?!" Scorpius and Albus both burst out in unison, Michael was the star Chaser.

"It's a hefty workload and there's a lot going on, I'm not sure I waste time on something fun and relaxing like Quidditch."

"That's all the more reason _to_ do it," Albus protested and Scorpius actually found himself agreeing, "You need something to take your mind off things, something good. The stress will eat you alive if you don't have anything to ease it and we haven't managed to find you a girlfriend yet so you don't even have that, you have nothing. You need Quidditch."

"If I try out for Quidditch will you stop trying to make me get a girlfriend?" Michael sighed.

"No. But you should still do it."

"Please Michael, don't abandon me now," Scorpius pleaded and Michael sighed again, regardless he nodded before rolling over, "Night."

Scorpius did feel as if he'd be quite lost without his friend, it would be weird enough having Quidditch practices without Molly let alone without Michael too. Besides, he was their star Chaser and he'd rather have people he knew in positions then random strangers as much as possible. Plus, he did genuinely think it was good for Michael to have something to look forward to, he didn't want him slipping back into drinking and in general he'd prefer Michael be happy. Apparently Michael wasn't the only one with doubts.

"What do you mean you're not trying out?" Scorpius protested of Abby the next day at lunch, "You were a Reserve last year, this year you can be a full player with Michael and Al."

"Look," Abby began and looked around as if making sure there was someone absent, Albus had gone to warm up but she lowered her voice anyway, "I only became a Reserve last year to spend time with Al because I liked him but now I have Sequoia, I don't need to do that and I don't really want to play. I don't want to be against my boyfriend."

"He's a Seeker like me, I'm the only one he's really against."

"I'm sorry, Scor," Abby insisted with a shake of her head, she looked sympathetic though, "I'll watch the trials and if you're really short on players then I'll try but otherwise I'm not interested, I can take or leave Quidditch."

Scorpius could only sigh heavily, not looking forward to the tryout at all. He trudged on to the pitch with Michael to get the equipment ready for the trials, he supposed he should be grateful for the lack of rain but couldn't manage it. It was so strange walking onto the pitch and not seeing Molly there. He was greeted with a surprise though as a small girl in Hufflepuff robes tugged as his sleeves, he glanced down to see it was Martha from the train and she gave him a nervous smile.

"Hey Martha, what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked of her in surprise, "You know you can only make the same team as your house?"

"I know," Martha admitted as she fidgeted, "My Dad wasn't big on Quidditch but Auriga is really into it so I'm trying to get a better sense of the game by watching the trials, I watched Hufflepuffs already and I just wondered if I could watch Gryffindor's too?"

"Sure, no problem," Scorpius agreed and gave the girl an encouraging smile, gesturing to the stands for her to sit at with the other spectators.

"Thank you. You're a really nice person, you know that?" Martha offered kindly – not that Scorpius agreed - before walking off with an oddly solemn expression, he went to do a double take but she was already moving away with her back to him.

"Who was that?" Michael wondered curiously.

"Some First Year I met on the train, she lost her Dad in Hogsmeade and doesn't really have anyone else," Scorpius explained, feeling a pang of sympathy for her again, "Some kids were being mean to her so she was just standing in corridors crying, I helped her get a compartment."

"How was she?"

"How was she?" Scorpius repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, how was she? Do you think she could've poisoned you?" Michael elaborated to which Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Don't roll your eyes! I'm serious, people you had contact with on the train are suspects and she's a random stranger. Do you think she might've poisoned you?"

"No, I do not. She's a good kid, she made Hufflepuff for crying out loud."

"What? And anyone in Hufflepuff is automatically good?" Michael scoffed before shaking his head, "I don't think so. Besides, she could've been Imperised or Specters could've been involved."

"I don't think so," Scorpius insisted as people started showing up for the tryout, "She seemed fine not murderous or anything. And seriously, would you people forget the poisoning thing? I'm sure the Shadows have bigger things right now, if they wanted me dead then the Shadow Aurors patrolling the ground have had two weeks of nothing."

"That doesn't mean they've given up."

"Are you going to start now or what?" Albus complained as he walked over to them, Scorpius glanced to the crowd of about twenty was still quite small yet somehow more then he'd expected.

"Sure," Scorpius agreed and took a deep breathe, hoping he didn't screw this up as he tried to speak louder, "Okay so welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch team trials, anyone who's not a Gryffindor cannot make the team so go to the stands or leave. Everyone else, divide yourself into the positions you want. Chasers go over there, Keepers to their left, Beaters to their right and Seekers just stand there. Since my position is Seeker, I will only be taking a Reserve so bear that in mind anyone who wants a full position."

Scorpius waited as they divided themselves up, glad to see some familiar faces as took in his potential teammates. Lily Potter had been the Reserve Seeker the last few years, she and a gangly girl who looked a Seventh Year were the only ones for Seeker. There were five Beaters including Roxy Weasley who had been a Reserve and finally a full player last year, the others he didn't know. There were four Keepers, the smallest of which was the scrawny Third Year Rufus Rhett who had been the Reserve Keeper for a few years and the others were all older people he didn't know. The most was six for Chasers, including Albus and Michael, the only other one he recognized was the young, mousy haired Creevey kid who was a Second Year.

"Alright, let's start with the Seekers since there's not a lot and it's just a Reserve position. I'll release the Snitch, whoever catches it first gets the spot," Scorpius decided since there was the least of them and he didn't think it would take long, this proved to be quite true. Lily caught it first by miles within a few minutes, "Alright, Lily Potter is the Reserve Seeker. Good try though, feel free to try out for something else."

"Okay," the girl nodded and went to go stand with the Chasers, Albus whispered something to Michael as she passed which was likely a comment on her potential for being a girlfriend due to the scowl Michael gave him.

"Next up we'll do some basic flying exercises since all of you will need that then we'll specialize so everyone up in the air," Scorpius commanded them and they actually did it, he didn't know why this surprised him, "Lily, since you're already in can you help me with this equipment stuff?"

"Sure," Lily agreed readily, "What do you need?"

"Just release the Bludgers when I say so."

"Got it, Captain."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered as he took the skies with the assorted students, "Now I want you to just do laps of the pitch, in a minute we'll release the Bludgers and test your dodging ability."

The students obediently started doing laps just like he'd said to do, was it really that easy to get people to do what you say? It was quite strange. And oddly, Scorpius found that he kind of liked being obeyed. He paid attention to the students' flying ability to see how they did normally for a few minutes, having them go faster and slower at random to test their speed before getting Lily to release the Bludgers to see them dodge. The Creevey kid dropped out, Calum or Colin Scorpius thought his first name was due to his poor flying and struggle to dodge. He went to go watch from the stands though, Scorpius spared a glance to the spectators and looked for Martha briefly. She was watching him and quickly averted her eyes, he turned back to the potential fliers. Some were better than others but it would depend on their skills too, he was somewhat open to working on their flying like Albus.

"Alright, that's enough. Land and go back into your groupings," Scorpius decided and the group landed, he gestured for the Beaters to come over and Lily pre-emptively started handing out the bats to them which he muttered a quick thank you for, "Beaters, get back on your brooms because I'm going to conjure some targets and I want you to try hit them. I'll be taking into account accuracy, strength and speed."

The Beaters complied and shot into the air while Scorpius whipped out his wand, feeling quite proud of being able to conjure targets thanks to Wyatt's teaching. He kept them stationary at first, immediately dismissing one of the five due to his struggle to bat and balance on his broom at the same time making each shot weak and clumsy. He then started making the targets move thanks to Varanian's training for them to try hit moving targets, gauging the remaining four contenders. He dismissed another who was faster but for a poorer swing and absurd inaccuracy when trying – and failing - to hit any of the moving targets, that left Roxy and two boys. Roxy's hits weren't as powerful as the other two but it wasn't bad she was fast and with impeccable accuracy from her prior experience, he decided to but her back and counter her with a more forceful hitter which the other two both were quite evenly. It was a close call, one was faster but less accurate and one was slower but more accurate. He ultimately decided on the faster, he thought accuracy was easier to improve on with practice and overall he thought the boy was the better flier of the two.

"Okay that's enough," Scorpius spoke up and had them land, "I've decided to take on Roxy Weasley and erm… you."

"You don't know my name?" the very burly and very tall boy he'd chosen wondered incredulously, "I'm in your year!"

"I'm sorry, I'm bad at names," Scorpius offered lamely and somewhat truthfully, outside of his room in the dormitory and friends he didn't pay much attention, "Who are you?"

"Kemen Arkaitz."

"Well, welcome to the team Kemen Arkaitz," Scorpius congratulated him, forcing a smile and hoping this made up for not knowing it, "Was a close call though so well done to the rest of you and feel free to try out for another position. Next we'll be doing Chasers and Keepers so get back up into the air. Chasers will try to score at the Keepers."

One of the Beaters moved over to the Chasers, making the number seven once again while the other two left in defeat. It was only after that that Scorpius realized he could've and should've picked someone to be a Reserve, he supposed it wasn't the end of the world and he could focus more on just improving those he had, and it was less people to manage as well. He had the Keepers alternate in who was defending the hoops and trying to defend from shots the Chasers took turns in making, it immediately became clear who the new Keeper was. Rufus had always been the small, quiet little boy in the background who helped carry equipment but Molly had mentioned training him up and training him up she had. Rufus blocked aside almost every shot, only really struggling against the notoriously good Michael but even then he managed to save them. The good outweighed it though, he was fast and focused and none of the other Keepers came remotely close to being as good as him.

"Rufus Rhett is our new Keeper," Scorpius announced while still in the ear, earning a somewhat smug grin from Rufus, "The rest of you good try but no, feel free to try Chaser or better luck next year."

Two of the Keepers landed and left, throwing disgusted looks at Rufus as if angered to lose to the younger year. The last failed Keeper joined the opposing side and one Chaser who constantly fumbled the ball to throw at all dropped out, meaning they stayed still with seven Chasers. Scorpius had them try to score against Rufus a bit more, this time having his new Beaters hit Bludgers at them to try see how they'd score under pressure. He then kept grouping them into three, having them work on passing to get up to the goal before scoring and seeing how they did with passing, teamwork and generally testing the dynamics. He then had three more try to stop them and get the Quaffle to the other side instead, testing their ability to tackle as well as still teamwork since what was very important with Chasers especially.

Michael was in hands down, he was still like a shot out of a canon and supreme at scoring. The Seeker original was out, she was a fairly poor flier and bad at all things Chaser. The Beater original was also out, his inaccuracy was just as bad with a Quaffle and one time even managed to hit Albus in the head with it despite the fact Albus was several feet away from who he was supposed to pass to. The only other girl Chaser was also out, she hogged the Quaffle too much – seeming unwilling to pass – and avoided tackling. This just left Albus, the failed Keeper and the Chaser to choose from. Albus was only mediocre at flying, putting the other two ahead but Albus was excellent at passing and decent at getting the Quaffle, he was also good at keeping up with Michael which was something the Keeper especially struggled with.

Latimer had been kind of the strongest, he was good at getting the Quaffle and could also score if need be then Michael had kind of been the fastest, he shot through the field like a ping pong ball and scored like a demon then Albus was in the middle, he was the one who passed between them and could tackle if need be. That dynamic had worked which was why he ultimately decided to go with Michael, Albus and the last Chaser. Scorpius resisted the urge to smile to himself, being the Captain wasn't actually that bad after all and now he had a team.

"Alright, I've made my decision so let's all land," Scorpius announced and everyone came to the ground, "Another close call and good flying out there everyone but ultimately, I've decided to go with Michael Sanford, Albus Potter and err… you."

"Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you Scor!" Albus burst out immediately before he could learn the kid's name, Albus flung his arms around him and hugging him, "You're the greatest friend I ever had, I promise I won't let you down. I'll do everything in my power to be the best Chaser I can be, I swear it."

"I know it," Scorpius offered and patting his friend on the back, thankfully Albus pulled away before crushing all of his ribs. He approached his new Chaser, a short teen who looked like a Fifth Year. He had oak brown hair that flopped to one side which he suspected was at least partially to try hide a scar beside his right eyebrow, "So what's your name?"

"Montague Stanton, I'm in Fifth Year," the boy introduced himself and confirmed Scorpius' suspicions, he looked quite serious

"Well welcome to the team new members and old welcome back, this is my first time as Captains and this is a good team so let's… make this a good year for Gryffindor," Scorpius offered lamely and the group nodded collectively – Rufus gave a delighted whoop - before dispersing minus Michael.

"So Roxy, Lily, do you have any single lady friends who might be interested in Michael by any chance?" Albus asked of his cousin and sister as he walked off with them while Scorpius sighed heavily.

"I thought you did good," Michael assured him.

"I was okay on the Quidditch choosing but I'm not great at the speaking to them," Scorpius pointed out seriously as they started packing up the equipment, the spectators starting to disperse although not Martha that he could see. Had she left early? He supposed it was quite possible or maybe she'd just needed to use the little girl's room or something, "I hope they don't expect pre-game speeches because I have a feeling I will suck at those."

"I guess we'll see."

* * *

**Part 3: **Temptation

* * *

_December 2nd 1980 was the date Xerxes Hektor Panagiotis Seneca was born, barely seven months after the marriage of his parents, Hektor and Hecate. They were both from noble pure-blood families in Greece, it was a respectable match. Hecate was noted to be a beauty with milky white skin, fiery red hair and violently violet eyes which was a rarity in Greece. Hektor was more plain, olive-skinned and stocky yet thin with a square jaw, dark eyes and dusty brown hair. Baby Xerxes was thought to take very strongly after his mother, a square jaw being the most he had in common with his father. _

_The family lived in a villa in the Greek countryside, Hektor Flooed daily to Athens where he was an up-and-comer in the Greek Ministry. Hecate stayed at home with their son, leaving his care and housework to servants while she did as she pleased. Xerxes was a happy child of an unhappy union, Hektor often putting silencing charms on his room so he would not hear his parents screaming at each other. The more free spirited Hecate feeling bored, neglected and accusing Hektor of being controlling while the more traditional Hektor felt she was lazy, unappreciative and didn't always behave the way a respectable pure-blooded wife was supposed to. Xerxes loved his mother over his busy father, despite how frequently she would leave him alone with servants to spend time with strange men. It wasn't until a month after he turned five that he saw her packing suitcases like they did for vacation._

_"Are we going on holiday, Mommy?" Xerxes asked of her curiously and she gave him a sickly sweet smile._

_"I'm going on holiday for a while, you have to stay here," Hecate told him gently while one of her male friends started carrying out the suitcases for her, "You know, where there are servants to take care of you."_

_"But I want to come. Don't you want me to come, Mommy? Don't you love me?" Xerxes questioned fearfully, upset at the thought of her leaving without him. Hecate caressed his cheek loving before sighing and putting her hands on his shoulders._

_"Of course I love you, Mommy loves you very much," Hecate assured him seriously, "But… Mommy just loves herself more… And that man's ass. But I'll see you again sometime… You'll understand when you're older."_

_On that note, she kissed him on the forehead and walked out of his life. Xerxes didn't quite understand the permanency of her vacation at first but Hektor did, he was furious that his wife cheated and consumed with rage that she left, the humiliation it brought to the Seneca name. He tried not to be angry at his son but he couldn't help it and resented him as he was tainted by his mother's blood, Xerxes looked so much like her and he couldn't look at him without the sting of betrayal angering him. He threw Xerxes to his tutors and actively avoided spending time with him, focusing on his work at the Ministry and trying to move past it. He got them divorced since she'd left and eventually started courting another, not wanting the adulterer's son to be the sole Seneca heir. Two years after Hecate left, he married again to another pure-blood named Xanthe and had two children with her. His daughter, Nausicca, was born the following year and a son, Panthor, two years after that. _

_Unlike Xerxes, the new children were doted on by both parents. The most time Xerxes spent with his father was meals, where Hektor would sit on the opposite side of the huge eight seated table. Xerxes couldn't even spend time with his half-siblings, the eight and ten year age gap made it hard to be able to connect, play or communicate with them. He desperately craved his father's attention, his mother remained absent – and he came to share his father's anger at being left by her - and Xanthe had no time for her stepson. His extended family was no better, wanting to forget about Hektor's failed first marriage and the result of it and he was often confined to his room during family gatherings. His grandfather alone always made time for him, unfortunately this put him at odds with Hektor so their time together was more infrequent then Xerxes would've liked. He developed an interest in girls quite early and had gone through multiple crushes before even starting school._

* * *

Crystal Sanford was having a rough time of things, although when was that not the case? John had been kind enough to let them stay with him, only making her feel even guiltier for imposing on him after he'd already saved her children's lives and been injured in the process. She was very torn between wanting to just stay home with her poor, traumatized children who she was afraid to let out of her sight or try to get a job because she needed money. She hadn't thought to take any of the bank before pretending to be dead, not that she'd had much to take because money was consistently tight. It was also made difficult by the fact she had no car now and John lived far from places, meaning she needed him to take her anywhere.

She couldn't get a job in the wizarding world in case a Shadow saw her and in the muggle world she couldn't get anything official or it would be known she was still alive. If she couldn't get a job, she couldn't money and unfortunately money was needed for things like rent, a car, the cost of living in general. She didn't know what she was going to do about Michael either. She wasn't doing any better with her children, she had similar problems with enrolling them in a new school so they were just home. Bertie clung to her constantly as if terrified if he left her site then he'd never see her again, he'd clammed right up once more and had started suffering night terrors again. Ivy was worse off, she actually had lost two of her fingers which John had treated but he was incapable of growing them back. She was a clingy too but less so then Bertie, she'd taken a liking to John as well and tended to follow him around as well. Both of them were jumpy, as was Crystal herself.

Crystal lived in perpetual fear of the Shadows returning for her children, she lay awake at night and when if she eventually did slip into sleep then she woke frequently drenched in cold sweat and checked to make sure her children were alright at random. During the day she always kept one eye over her shoulder, every sound sending her mind spiraling into anxiety. She felt safer with John even though his injuries seemed to be taking their toll, he was sluggish and weak, needing to rest quite a bit. As a result, Crystal had offered to help him out as it felt like the least she could and he'd eventually, reluctantly agreed. He'd shown her how to take care of the animals and tend to his garden, he'd set the kids up with chores caring for it as well to help keep them busy or homeschooled them while she was out with the animals since it wasn't as energy consuming as being on his feet.

"You already have a glass of water, Ivy, come on now," John's voice drifted through the silent night while Crystal was trying to sleep or maybe she had been asleep, she wasn't sure these days.

At any rate she rose and pulled herself out of the uncomfortable double bed John had told her she could use, walking by the boy's room and reaching the girl's room where the voices were coming from. She stopped in front of the open door and leaned against the frame, John was tucking Ivy back into bed with his wand lit up on the bedside table.

"Your hand is fine," John was assuring her, sparing a glance for it before finishing with the blankets where Ivy was nestled in nice and cozy but she looked anxious. He sat on the bed beside her and spoke in a gentle tone, "Now come on, what's really bothering you? Why do you keep wandering downstairs in the middle of the night?"

"Because I erm…" Ivy started to answer but halted to bite her lip nervously, "Because there's light down there and I… I like it."

"There's no shame in being afraid of the dark, not after what happened to you."

"Being scared of the dark is for babies."

"Not for wizards," John offered as he retrieved a jar from under the bed, "There's even a special spell for it."

"Really?" Ivy wondered hopefully as John flicked his wand at the jar, some blue flames appeared inside it.

"Really," John confirmed as he screwed the lid back on and put it on the bedside, he gestured to it, "You see, this is magical fire. Specially designed to be blue so it's easier on the eyes to sleep with but still there so you won't be in the dark. Okay?"

Ivy's blue eyes looked only a brighter shade in the light of the flames as they flickered to it and apparently decided it was satisfying, she nodded and gave him a grateful smile in reply. He made to move but was stopped as she threw her arms around him in a hug, John froze in shock before patting her back and tucking her in yet again. He picked up his wand to leave, Ivy's eyes already closed. John's own oddly watery cerulean eyes widened when he saw her but he didn't say anything until he was out, they move unanimously made the decision to move away and head downstairs where they didn't have the risk of waking her.

* * *

_He was accepted at the Mount Olympos Wizarding School and started aged twelve, which was how it was in Greece. There were eight initial subjects and a language choice of English or Ancient Greek, Xerxes was forced to take the latter as English was something he'd been tutored in at home. Xerxes loved school, he was put in Zeus House – which was naturally the best in Xerxes' opinion – like his father before him and just loved it. He found it great to be learning magic, making friends and away from Hektor, he didn't feel neglected and unwanted there. It all came secondary to girls though, his love life was the important focus of his actual life and he started dating as soon as he could get a pretty girl to say yes. He found it oddly difficult though, dating someone didn't stop him becoming attracted to other girls and he didn't see why you were supposed to be limited to one. This caused him some issues with 'cheating' – which he objected to, it wasn't like they were married then it would be – but he kept at it, after losing his virginity in his Second Year he was only more interested._

_In Third Year, Flying became replaced by your language and you chose two to four optional subjects. Since he already knew English, he chose Latin because he figured it would be easy and Muggle Studies because he didn't care about blood when it came to women and learning about muggles would widen his dating pool. He wanted easy subjects, the less time he had to spend on classes the more time he could spend with girls. He'd already decided on his career anyway, he was going to be an artist, art was something he enjoyed and tutored in and magical was an option for Fifth and Sixth Years so he could learn it. He enjoyed his Third and Fourth Years even more then he had his first two years, wondering how he'd survived without sex. He breezed through his KIU exams and was quite pleased with his results, he'd passed all the subjects he'd wanted to take or needed for the final two years at least. Hektor had other ideas._

_"What the hell is this, Xerxes?!" Hektor yelled at him angrily as he stormed into the room, jabbing at the paper with his exam results and completely disrupting Xerxes' make out session with… Fia? Hektor grabbed her and shoved her out the door much to Xerxes' irritation, "Go back home to your family or I'll drag you home myself, you filthy slut!"_

_"I passed all the subjects I needed or wanted," Xerxes pointed out defensively and somewhat angrily, now his father decided to care? "I even got the highest grade for Muggle Studies."_

_"I don't care what you got for Muggle Studies! This is not good enough, you failed three subjects and three you passed aren't high enough grades to continue them anyway!"_

_"I don't want to take those wants though so it doesn't matter. I'm taking Muggle Studies, Charms, Magical Arts and Latin."_

_"No!" Hektor barked angrily._

_"What do you mean 'no'?!" Xerxes demanded irritably, "It's what I want."_

_"You're a child, it doesn't matter what you want! You're my son and you're going to go back to repeat the year, take the exams again and get good enough results for a full roster for a complete magical education for a good job in the Ministry!"_

_"Dad, no! I don't want to do the year again!" Xerxes protested furiously, scrambling up, "It's my exams, my life and my choice! I'm fine with my results, I'm not going to go back and do the year again like a moron while all my friends move on! I can do what I want!"_

_"It doesn't matter what you want, only what I want!" Hektor screamed as he slapped him across the face, Xerxes was so stunned that he could only gape, "I'm your Father and you'll do as what I say. You're repeating the year and if you don't get better grades then you can do it again, try using your brain not your dick this time!"_

_The rest of the summer, Hektor hired a tutor to reach him Legilimency and Occlumency so he'd have a special skill to help make up for the fact he'd had an extra year in school. He hated it, it was the most uncomfortable process for the stupidest skill. Xerxes had to repeat his Fourth Year. He'd never felt more humiliated in his whole life, some of his friends had even done worse than him but they still moved on to the next year. He had to endure sitting in the classes with the younger year, listening to them snickering and mocking his intelligence. He felt like everyone was mocking him, he couldn't believe his father had done this to him. It was the most miserable year of his life, he had to focus on his studies – much of which he'd already done – for fear of repeating the year again. This time, he passed every subject and his father 'helped' him pick his subjects for the final years. _

_He was forced to not take Magical Arts and the languages like he'd wanted, he managed to convince his father Muggle Studies was more useful then Astronomy but that was all and he still hadn't wanted the maximum amount of subjects because it was a hefty workload. He also still was forced to keep up his Legilimency and Occlumency training over the summer, it was of little consolation that he was apparently good at it. Fifth Year was exhausting with so many subjects but his father only gave him 'permission' to drop the two subjects he most wanted to learn so he didn't, he was looking forward to the summer break more than anything. Apart from still learning Legilimency and Occlumency, however he finally started to see the value in it. He wasn't just good, he was great and came to realize he'd actually surpassed his teacher in terms of skill. He was so good he could actually read minds – if they didn't know the skills – without the other person noticing, you just needed to be delicate and gentle. _

* * *

"I'm sorry if that was out of line, she kept wandering downstairs," John offered immediately when they were back in the front room, he waved his wand and they were left with just the crackling flames in the fireplace, "Considering when I found her she was being kept in a windowless room with no light, it seemed like the right thing to do."

"No, I… I approve," Crystal assured him and he relaxed only slightly, his nervousness returning to his usual stoic expression and she wrapped her arms around herself as she became embarrassingly and shamefully aware she was only in her nightgown while he was still dressed. She hoped she didn't blush, "You were good with her. Thank you."

"Glad you approve," John nodded and she jumped nervously and stupidly at the sound of an owl hooting outside, she looked back to him where he was still watching her with his jagged wound-scar still livid and fresh on sickly, waxy flesh which made her feel a pang of guilt.

"I'm really sorry about that, you know?"

"I know and it's fine, I have come to accept my beauty pageant days are over," John pointed out jokingly and she smiled as he started walking over to the chair to sit.

"I'm sure your parents were proud."

"They would've been," John scoffed, sounding serious again, "I was supposed to be a girl."

"You were?" Crystal wondered in surprise and he nodded.

"They already had two sons, they wanted a girl and expected a girl. They already had a name picked out - Christabelle I was supposed to be called – and the nursery had all been done up in pink frills, dolls and little dresses had been bought. But no, I had to go and have a penis," John recounted and Crystal couldn't help but laugh, it felt like a long time since she'd laughed and even John had the corners of his mouth curl upwards in the weakest of smiles. It was the closest she'd seen him get to a smile, it quickly faded as he added almost to himself, "And my Mother never forgave me for it, Father refused to have more children lest we become like the Weasleys. She acted like we'd conspired to rob her of a daughter."

"I'm sorry," Crystal offered sympathetically as John rubbed his wounded side, "My Dad died when my Mum was pregnant with me and my Mum died giving birth to me, neither of them even got to see me before they died and I had a defective heart, I could've died too. I was never really bothered by gender, long as they're okay."

"I'm sorry," John told her softly and she nodded in understanding as they drifted into quiet, "We should get some rest. Goodnight, Bambi."

"Goodnight, Christabelle," Crystal stated as she turned on her heel to leave, she disliked being called that. She got halfway up the stairs before working up the courage to ask him about it, "Why do you always call me Bambi?"

"Because you're so skittish, you know like a deer," John answered as she returned, he'd started unbuttoning his shirt and didn't notice her return, "You need to have more confidence in yourself."

She was torn between coughing to loudly announce her presence or simply moving back upstairs to give him some privacy, she froze though as she caught a glimpse of his chest. He wasn't fat like Bob or thin like Robin, he wasn't as muscular as Jack either but just nicely toned which was almost very attractive but he had an assortment of scars marring his body along with his fresh wounds he'd gotten saving her kids. Most noticeably and deeply disturbing was the wound he'd got on his side, it looked raw and black, blotchy almost like a river of mold and oozing dark… blood? John looked in pain, his eyes closed and his head lolled as if he was about to collapse. She rushed over to help him and steadied him, his eyes shot back open and he gripped the table for support.

"The… The wound looks bad," Crystal pointed out stupidly, unsure of what to say.

_That's useful, you dumb whore!_ Bob's voice barked at her inside her mind, _He has eyes. And it's his body, of course he knows its bad you stupid bitch_

"I know. It's a curse wound, a nasty curse. It keeps getting worse, festering. Dark Magic," John told her as he stood, she hovered by him, "I need to lie down."

"Should… Should you go to St Mungo's?" Crystal asked less stupidly as John lay back on the couch but he shook his head.

_Why didn't you say that in the first place?! You're so god dammed stupid!_

"They won't see me. They don't treat people with the Dark Mark."

"Is it… I mean, it's not fatal… right?"

"Without treatment, it is. It's not just the wound that festers you see, it spreads and eats you alive inside," John explained, letting his eyes close while Crystal felt panic shoot through her, "It's a slow and painful way to die, even slower since I killed whichever one of the Shadows was the caster. Weeks at least, months at most."

"Do you know how to treat it?" Crystal questioned worriedly and John stared into her eyes for the longest moment as if debating the answer, "John?"

"No. No idea."

* * *

_Xerxes quickly realized how fantastic a tool this was, if you knew what people were thinking or liked or disliked then it was easy to manipulating them. It was also perfect for seducing women. Partly out of morbid curiosity to see if he could and a desire to get back at his father, he tried using it seducing Xanthe his stepmother. He shocked and pleased to succeed, she felt ignored by his father and surprisingly lonely. Unfortunately, his father knew the skills so Xerxes couldn't be able to get inside his head to see what he really thought. He kept it from Hektor despite initially planning on revealing it, Xanthe's fear of his reaction making him think of his younger siblings. He may not be close to them but they were still his family, he didn't really want to screw up their relationship with their parents the way Xerxes' had been ruined by Hecate. He started his sixth and final year, his newfound skills really helped him speed up the dating process despite the still heavy workload and he could cheat answers off others. _

_He graduated with the top grades in his year because of this, they did nothing to stop Legilimency being used on other students. He didn't think they thought a student were capable of doing it, let alone without a wand or incantation. Xerxes was just that good. Forget good, he was great, he was downright brilliant and awesome. Hektor gave nothing beyond a grunt of approval at his results and Xerxes decided just screw his parents, his so-called mother had left and his father too bitter to recognize how fantastic a son he had. His father did take more interest in them, trying to get him a job in the Ministry by throwing parties and introducing him to these high-ranking officials while pointing out his high grades. Xerxes even met the Minister, however he was more interested in the man's wife. His poor lonely wife, starved of affection and attention. Forget art, seduction was the only art he cared about. She wasn't especially attractive and was pushing sixty but nonetheless, she was probably the most powerful woman in Greece and power was sexy. He began an affair with her._

_This would prove to be a mistake for Xerxes though, for a few months he did enjoy her company until her husband came home early from a function and caught them. Xerxes tried to stay hidden under the covers and fled while he was busy yelling at his wife, he thought he'd gotten away with it too as nothing eventful happened the rest of the night. The next day he carried on as usual, relaxing and his good spirits returning as a maid he was also sleeping with was working that day. He'd just started snogging out her when she was yanked off him, Xerxes blinked in surprise to see Hektor pushing her towards the door._

_"Get to work or you're fired! I'm paying you to clean not screw my son!" Hektor yelled at her and she scuttled away, Xerxes resisted the urge to roll his eyes as his father's incredibly poor timing but the older man was already rounding on him, "And you! The Minister's wife, Xerxes?! Really?!"_

_"How… How do you know about that?" Xerxes questioned nervously as his father stared him down stoically, shaking with pent up rage._

_"How do you think I know?! The Minister told me this morning! It's a scandal, an outrage, do you have any idea how badly this reflects on me?! How badly this reflects on our family?! My job is in jeopardy and forget about a good job for you now, the Snitch is lost! You're just like your Mother! A selfish slut who can't keep his pants on, how hard is that?! What is wrong with you?! You're a disgrace to the Seneca name, a disgrace to pure-bloods, a disgrace to wizards in general! You disgust me!"_

_"I disgust you?! You disgust me!" Xerxes spat back angrily at the outburst, "How can you accuse me of being selfish when you never think of anyone but yourself?! You never take into account how anyone aside from you feels because you don't care! You don't care about anyone but yourself! You don't care about me and you never have!"_

_"Don't try to turn this on me, you're the one who did something wrong! Have some shame, have some dignity!"_

_"I'm not the one married," Xerxes scoffed defensively and truthfully, finding himself stunned when his father slapped him across the face for the second time in his life._

_"Get out, Xerxes, I'm done with you," Hektor said quietly._

_"What do you mean, you're done with me?"_

_"I'm done with you. I'm done trying to help you, I'm done trying to protect you, I'm done trying to raise you. Just get out. Get out of this house and get out of our lives, I'm just done with you."_

_"You can't be serious," Xerxes protested despite the fact Hektor looked very serious, then again he always did._

_"Walk out right now or I'll make you walk out!" Hektor yelled, jabbing a finger angrily at the door while Xerxes continued trying to process what was happening._

_"C-Can't I pack first?"_

_"NO!" Hektor barked and went to draw his wand, Xerxes fled and his father slammed the front door on his heels._

_Xerxes stood there in shock. It was raining too, the skies pouring down on him as he just stood there. He stared at the door, waiting for it to open and his father to let him back in because surely he couldn't be serious. His father wouldn't go this far, surely. But it continued to rain and he continued to stand there like an idiot, he used a charm to keep the rain off him but the door didn't open. Was Hektor waiting for an apology? Was that it? He heaved a heavy sigh and went back over to the door, he knocked. And knocked. And knocked but still got no answer, was he just supposed to apologize though the door?_

_"I'm sorry!" Xerxes yelled at the wood, feeling rather foolish, "I'm sorry, okay!? Would you just let me back inside now?! I'm sorry!"_

_He was about to yell again when the door opened, it wasn't his father though but Xanthe. She had some travel bags with her, for a stupid second he wondered if she was leaving Hektor like Hecate had but instead she started handing the bags to him._

_"Hektor is serious about kicking you out, he's just gone to work right now so I've packed your things and given you as much gold we have to hand," Xanthe told him and he could only gape, still trying to believe this, "Don't stay in Greece, the Minister is a powerful and angry man. You can't stay here and you can't come back here."_

_"What… What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?" Xerxes wondered of her fearfully and desperately, "This is my home."_

_"Go to England," Xanthe offered after a moment of thought as she caressed his cheek tenderly and pressed a last kiss to his lips, "That's where your Mother went, she might be able to help you. If not then I don't know but you're smart, I'm sure you'll think of something. Be careful."_

* * *

**Part 4: **Without Wings

* * *

_Xerxes felt utterly and hopelessly lost, he didn't want to go to a far off country he'd never been to before where they spoke a language he hadn't used since he was twelve. England was cold and wet, he didn't even have that much money with him and he didn't have any servants. How did people do things without servants? He didn't know how to cook or clean, he was a pure-blood for crying out loud. He didn't even want to find his mother, Hecate had made it perfectly clear where her priorities were. How did you even go about finding people? Why was this even happening to him? He hadn't done anything wrong. How could his father do this to him? It was worse than forcing him to repeat a year, Hektor had actually managed to top it. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to his half-siblings or his grandfather or friends._

_He took an immediate dislike to England, it was dreary and dull and the language sounded stupid. He missed his own country, Greece was such a beautiful place. He rented a room in the Leaky Cauldron for the time being while he got his bearings, it also meant food was easy to come by since he could get it there and the cleaning service took care of that. He spent a good deal of time in the pub, brushing up on his rusty English and trying to learn as much as possible. Legilimency came in handy, he frequently used it to win at card games and for seducing women, at least England did have women because he didn't think he'd survive without them. He had no luck finding his mother, no one seemed to have heard of her although it was suggested she may simply be in hiding after some wizarding war he'd heard of vaguely that had ended a few years ago. _

_For a few months things were going okay, he didn't intend to live in the Leaky Cauldron forever but he was feeling a bit more secure in the country finally and more confident. But also saddened as he reached his twentieth birthday, he got nothing. No gifts, no cards, not even a note. Had his family just forgotten he existed completely? Did they really not care at all? Was there really no one who cared about him? It wasn't like he was a bad person, he'd never been violent or cruel. He was a good person. His parents were the bad ones, they'd turned their backs on him for their own selfish reasons. They were terrible parents, they were the worst. If he ever had kids then he'd never turn his back on them, no matter what he would help them because that was what parents were supposed to do._

_He didn't realize he'd become a father that night, he just poured alcohol into the vacant hole his parents had left and talked about his sorrows to some woman. Senna or Sienna or Sierra or Charlotte… He didn't care what her name was, she was tall and beautiful though with dark hair and coal colored eyes. He was so drunk he didn't remember much of the – for once, not Legilimency influenced - conversation, he didn't even remember the words of the Contraceptive Spell he'd been supposed to cast. He didn't give her anymore thought then he had to any other of his women, not until she showed up in his room after the New Year had started. An unhappy new year as he was sent word of his grandfather's death, he was also told the funeral was over so he shouldn't worry about attending. He was feeling pretty down until he returned to his room after supper, the woman was sitting right there._

_"Do you know who I am?" the woman questioned of him, looking rather unimpressed. _

_"I think we had sex once," Xerxes half-guessed and tried to pry into her mind, only to find himself locked out. He felt his heartbeat start to quicken in panic, she was an Occlumens._

_"We did and now I'm pregnant with your child," the woman nodded vaguely, looking more interested now while Xerxes jumped so high in shock his head hit the ceiling, "That was an impressive attempt at Legilimency, you didn't use a wand or verbal spell, your eye contact wasn't even obvious."_

_"I'm good at Legilimency," Xerxes brushed it off, wondering how in the world she could give a damn about that at a time like this, "Did you say that you're-"_

_"You're going to be a Father, congratulations. It's not really important though, I was only really telling you as a curtesy. Do you know Occlumency too?"_

_"Of course I know Occlumency!" Xerxes snapped irritably, thinking it was hardly relevant, "I'm going to be a Father, who cares about Occlumency or Legilimency?!"_

_"You don't have to do anything about the child," the woman waved it off dismissively while Xerxes felt a bubble of excitement brewing after he said the words from his own lips, he was going to be a Dad, he was going to have a child. He was so proud and ecstatic, "Have you ever considered teaching Legilimency and Occlumency? My employer has plans to-"_

_"I don't care about that, I care about my child," Xerxes blurted out and sat with her, she looked quite taken surprised by his enthusiasm, "Is it a girl or a boy? Or twins? Or more? Have you thought of names? How long do I have to wait until it's born? And if you haven't thought of names can I suggest Viola for a girl, it is my absolute favorite girl's name and Stefanos for a boy, after a grandfather I'm particularly fond of who just died. I don't remember your name but whatever it is, I'd like to suggest Seneca is a better last name choice because it sounds way better than anything English I've heard and I am a pureblood, Seneca is a well-respected pureblood back in Greece. I-"_

_"Xerxes, shut up," the woman interrupted calmly, looking bored again as she stood, "My name is Asenneth Hunter, I usually go by Senna. My child will be a Hunter but I'll take your first name suggestions under advisement, if you want to be involved then fine. Think about what I said about teaching, I'll be in touch."_

* * *

Now that Scorpius had a team, he also had to go through the process of training them. He'd always taken for granted just how easy it was to turn up to practices and do what Molly said, now he was the one doing it. _He_ had to arrange the practices, he had to make sure the times he picked fit in with everyone on the team's schedules and then he had to make sure the pitch had not already been booked on those times. It was really quite tedious and then there were the practices themselves, instead of his own training he had to instead direct everyone else and work on their skills. He wasn't as in depth as Molly but he did take to keeping notes, he didn't have an infinite amount of space in his mind to dedicate to Quidditch.

He wrote to Molly, finding it quite strange to do so when he was so used to her being at Quidditch practices without her made him miss her even more. He felt more like a Captain though and tried out the Prefect's bathroom he was now entitled to use, it was nice there he would admit. He also hadn't paid much attention before to the spectators for practices, if there was any then it wasn't a lot of people but this time he noticed because Martha would always come down afterwards to help him pack the equipment away along with Michael. She didn't come to every practice but she came to a lot, she was a good kid, somewhat shy but curious about Quidditch and what it was like in NEWT classes.

"You don't think it's a little suspicious?" Michael complained after they split up from Martha to head to Gryffindor Tower to change before dinner, "She just _happens_ to meet you on the train where you were poisoned then she just _happens _to take an interest in watching the Quidditch practices?"

"_Everyone_ was on the train and so what if she likes watching?" Scorpius countered, fed up of his friends bringing the poisoning up, "It's not strange for a magical child to like Quidditch."

"Why not watch her _own_ house practices then?"

"Probably because she knows me," Scorpius insisted and Michael rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Besides, if she was the poisoner and is going to poison me then what is taking her so long? We've had two full weeks of Quidditch practices, I've seen a lot of her and I'm perfectly fine. If you're right then she didn't wait on the train, what's stopping her now?"

"I don't know, maybe she needs more potion?"

"Or maybe she's just innocent and you're just paranoid. "

"Have you asked Varanian what he thinks of the attempt on your life?" Michael questioned desperately.

"Yes and he hasn't replied yet," Scorpius lied, he didn't think it was worth bothering Varanian about and if he agreed with his friends then he'd never hear the end of it so he hadn't. It could wait until the Christmas break, "So could you just drop it?"

Michael did so but Scorpius wasn't sure he was convinced, despite how he continued to not die even after being around her. September settled into being a pretty uneventful month and drifted into a drizzly October, classwork – and homework - continued and other people were improving with nonverbal. Not all though, Albus seemed to really struggle with it. Scorpius didn't mind, he liked to keep busy because when he wasn't his mind was consumed by guilt about Ashylos' death and frustrated at his inability to do anything of use in the war still raging now in the sands of Egypt, he wanted to do more. Rojer continued to teach Alchemy, Rayan still unwell as far as Scorpius knew and Scorpius would still always stay behind to speak to him as he packed up. No major developments on soul but Rojer had reiterated some things he already knew.

The second week of October was the next full moon and with it increased Scorpius' frequency of practicing his animagi training, desperate to get it so he could stay with Michael. He swore he was getting closer, he could feel it, he could feel his body trying to compress itself into the new creature. It didn't look like he was going to make it though, the night of the full moon Michael was already in the Hospital Wing – probably already transformed – while Scorpius was in his dormitory practicing. He sat cross-legged on his bed with his eyes closed and the drapes pulled closed, Albus was the only one still awake though.

"So where do you think I should Grozda for our date in Hogsmeade?" Albus was questioning while scarfing down fudge, frustratingly distracting him from his training although Scorpius felt his teeth turning to his fangs. He could do more when he was more focused, teeth were nothing.

"I don't know," Scorpius insisted and continued willing his body to change, feeling the flesh on his face and chest hardening on what he'd learned to recognize as scales.

"I was thinking of taking her to the place I first took her too, it is like our anniversary practically so I thought it might be romantic to take her back there," Albus continued annoyingly while Scorpius continued his practice, he wasn't sure what he did but he felt… strange.

"Yeah, do that," Scorpius stated dismissively, focusing harder and felt an uncomfortable ache that he had to grit his teeth against as his flesh compressed itself to cling to his bones.

"But then I worry that she'll think I'm being boring, repetitive and running out of ideas, you know? Maybe she doesn't even remember that place," Albus prattled on, still frustratingly while Scorpius felt more of his body erupting into scales, he kept focusing and willing.

"Sounds good," Scorpius muttered and suppressed a gasp as a sharp pain shot through his back. _Come on, come on, come_, his mind pleaded, he was going to transform whether his body wanted to or not.

"Are you even listening to me?" Albus demanded and Scorpius did cry out then as the pain intensified, "Scorpius?"

Scorpius' body lurched forward to be on his knees and he bit his tongue to stop himself screaming, he felt as if the skin on his back was being ripped off. He heard the swoosh of the drapes being opened and fabric ripping but barely noticed it at the pain, he cried out as he felt as if his back erupted and heard Albus yelp in surprise, a flapping followed by the sound of things being knocked over. The pain stopped immediately but it was replaced by a strange feeling, it was as if he now had a part of himself on his back like his arms had been moved there or… or he'd grown an extra limb.

"Keep it down," Reuben Tear grumbled sleepily and Scorpius tensed, feeling an alien part of himself tense as well.

Albus grabbed his arm roughly and Scorpius was hauled downstairs without another word, he noticed something bizarre about Albus though. For some reason, he now had some kind of glowing white aura around himself. The Common Room was empty and only once there did Albus turn to face him, he noticed Albus had a bright orb coming out of his chest where his heart should be, it had a tint of green.

"What happened to you?" Scorpius wondered in shock, momentarily forgetting his own situation.

"What happened to me?! What happened to you!" Albus burst out incredulously, "Were you trying to turn yourself into some kind of demonic vampire?!"

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply but froze when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, his eyes were not glittery and devoid of pupil, the sharp fangs, his flesh was mostly scaled but most of all it was the wings. He'd sprouted wings, a huge pair of black, leathery wings like a bat. He too also had a weird aura, except his was gray as was the glowing orb coming from his chest. He tried to stretch his wings and was surprise as they opened, he willed them to close and they did. Open and closed. Open and closed. Open and then closed. He had wings. He actually had wings. They were his wings. It was… unbelievable. He wondered if he could fly.

"Scor!" Albus snapped at him, still looked stunned and had fudge on his face.

"It's just my animagi training, it's no big deal," Scorpius tried to brush it off and looked away, his surprise turning to excitement at the thought of being something capable of flight, "First time growing wings. Do you think it'd be fun to be a bat?"

"Maybe or a demonic vampire. You can reverse it right?"

"Of course," Scorpius brushed it off, taking in Albus' strange aura again, "I'm more curious why we suddenly have auras and glowing balls in our chests."

"Err… We don't," Albus pointed out with a scowl, "Are you sure you're not just going to be a mental patient?"

"I'm sure," Scorpius complained and flicked his wand, using a nonverbal reversal spell to untransfigure himself. He felt his fangs recede to normal teeth, his body fleshed out again and his scales reverted. But not the wings.

"Why do you still have wings?! And weird eyes?!" Albus hissed at him in panic while Scorpius tried a different, a more powerful spell and the auras vanished. But not the wings, "They're still there."

"I know they're still there, I can feel them!" Scorpius complained, gesturing wildly with his arms and accidently his wings which knocked a portrait down, he cringed apologetically, "Sorry."

"We should get a teacher."

"No, I'm not _supposed_ to be trying to become an animagus. Get… Get Maurice, he's good at stuff. I'll put this picture back up."

"Fine," Albus grumbled and headed back towards the steps while Scorpius put the portrait back up, apologizing profusely, "Got him."

"Huh, for some reason I thought they'd be more like a butterfly," Maurice commented, causing Albus to double take before the deaf boy continued on to Scorpius, "Anyway, the reason the your spells won't be working is the wings are too far from your body so it can't transfigure back. The ones you know won't be strong enough."

"Can you fix-"

Albus never got to finish his question, Maurice had flicked his own wand and Scorpius felt his wings snap to his back. Maurice waved his wand again and the wings seemed to meld back into his flesh, as if they were being melted down into his skin.

"You're welcome," Maurice offered as he put a hand to his necklace to translate, Scorpius didn't often see him in pajamas with his hair in utter disarray, "Is that all or can I get back to sleep?"

"I erm… I saw these weird auras before my eyes turned back to normal?" Scorpius asked cautiously.

"Isn't it obvious? Whatever animal's eyes you shifted to, you were seeing through their eyes. Whatever animal sees auras," Maurice answered with a dismissive shrug before turning on his heel and heading back up the stairs, he waved his hand behind them as he did so, "Night!"

* * *

_Senna left without another word but Xerxes nonetheless, impeding fatherhood did inspire to aspire for more than his current situation. He was going to be the father now, he couldn't rely on his own worthless, deadbeat father. He decided to become a tutor, teaching Legilimency and Occlumency, sometimes Ancient Greek which was sometimes relevant with Ancient Magic or history related artifact things… It was his job to teach the language not to know what it was used for. He saved up his money to buy an apartment, it was a magical floor of a muggle block. Two bedrooms, he made one pre-emptively into a nursery for his future child. He researched baby and childcare, he thought caring for the baby himself was a good step to being a better father then his parents. Servants were expensive anyway, he had to learn a few cleaning spells himself since he couldn't afford a maid. Cooking… Cooking was just impossible, he had to eat out all the time and so would his kid. _

_It wasn't too much but it was a start, Xerxes was quite proud of himself. He didn't other people would do as well as he had when his family threw him out with nothing, he was uncommonly gifted. He knew it, his parents had turned their back on an uncommonly gifted child because they were fools. Look what he'd accomplished without them, he was everything and they were nothing. Screw them. He stopped searching for his mother at this point, he cared more for his unborn child then the mother who'd abandoned him._

_Senna finally returned in August, a few days after their son, Stephan Drogo Hunter, had been born. Xerxes loved him the moment he laid eyes on him, delighted to have a son. She allowed them to share custody of him, apparently she travelled a lot so she would leave him with Xerxes for weeks at a time then take him back when she was in the country again. He had mixed reactions to parenting, sometimes it was incredibly exhausting and sometimes it was incredibly rewarding. Stephan actually helped him with women too, random people would fawn over the baby or simply view good fatherhood as an attractive quality. Xerxes doted on his son, he was a better parent then his combined. He was pretty sure he was a good father, a great father, the best father in fact. It made him want to shove it in his parents' faces, it was just another way that he was better than them. _

_And Stephan was better than them too, it was his parents' loss to miss out on their grandchild's life. He had a nasty temper but otherwise he was good, he was a very smart kid, he was bright for his age. And cunning, good at lying from an early age as well. He blamed Senna, she always encouraged it. He thought Senna was a strange woman, she was very secretive and not very empathetic. One time Stephan threw a rock at a very elderly muggle with a walking stick but it missed and instead of telling him off, she handed him another and advised he aim for the stick so they'd fall without its support. She high-fived him when the man fell and went to buy him ice-cream as a reward, it was really rather odd. Senna was very curious about him though, especially about his beliefs and views. _

_When Stephan turned too, Senna announced she was sending him to a special magic school for a head start. She was very proud, claiming he was one of the very first in this new regime for this new school her mysterious employer – Senna frequently refused to comment on who this person was or what Senna even did for a living - had created. He was only allowed to see his son once a month, apparently it was far away with an intense regime and was on an island so it wasn't like he could move closer. Stephan started to seem different after that, he was literate before he was three but he had an obsessive fascination with war. Xerxes had no say in the matter though, with his next child he wanted more control over their lives. He missed the time with his son, it wasn't the same. It give him more time to dedicate to women again though, he tried to pay more attention to them though and make sure they were aware of his name and how to contact him just in case something went wrong and he had another child. Unlike his parents, he would love any and all future children he had. _

_He tried staying in longer term relationships, he could never stay faithful for very long but that was their problem because he was young, handsome and a skilled Legilimens, he could easily find someone else. If teaching it had taught him anything, then it was that he was more talented at it then most. He spent New Year's night at a lady friend's house but when returning home the next morning, he noticed a girl was standing on the roof of his building about to jump. Xerxes apparated to the roof immediately, the girl jumped as he arrived. His wand was in his hand faster then he'd thought possible to levitate her back onto the roof, she scampered up in shock and spun to face him. She was a very dainty thing and pale, undoubtedly a teen too. Her short, mousy hair hung messily around her head, her face might've been beautiful if not coated by tears and her eyes were a lovely shade of sage but so sad._

_"H-How did you do that?" the girl stammered out fearfully and he delved into her mind, she was a muggle teenager but had passed the age of consent nonetheless._

_"I'm a wizard," Xerxes told her truthfully, deciding the cat was out of the bag, "I used magic to save you."_

_"M-Magic?"_

_"It's real, there's this whole magical world you don't know about. Come down with me and I'll tell you about, I know you're curious," Xerxes continued and noticed her eyes drift to the edge, "I also know why you're doing this. You're an only child and your parents died in a car crash two years ago, on their way home after dropping you off at a friend's house for a sleepover. The guilt and grief tear you up inside, you had to move here from your lovely home in the country to stay with your only living relative. A great grandmother but you have to take care of her, of you both, not the other way around. She doesn't even know who are and it kills you to see her like this, you can't focus in school, you can't even focus on making new friends or dating. I know your name is Edythe Blake and you're in your last year of high school, you're so alone and so stressed."_

_"How-How do y-you know all that?" Edythe wondered shakily._

_"I'm a Legilimens. That means I can read minds," Xerxes added, realizing she wouldn't know the word. She also wouldn't know if he lied, "And I can also see hear spirits and right now I hear your parents, they're crying and begging you not to jump. They don't want you to die."_

_"R-Really?" Edythe asked tearfully as more dribbled down her face, he nodded, "I-It's just s-so hard, you know? It's j-just so h-hard."_

_"I know it's hard," Xerxes offered gently and held out his hand to her, "Come on. Let's go inside and talk about this, please."_

_"O-Okay," Edythe agreed hesitantly and took his hand._

* * *

Scorpius felt slightly better about failing to become an animagus yet after the wings, surely growing such a huge and complex limb was a sign he was getting closer. He may not be able to do anything about the Shadow War but he could and he would help his friend, he thought Michael needed it especially since he was worried about his family. The auras also raised questioned, what animal saw auras like that? Albus had also had a point about Hogsmeade, not the restaurant with his girlfriend but the trip was a chance for him to see Molly. She still hadn't replied to his initial letter but he sent her another one anyway, asking her if she'd like to meet him then they could still have a date.

"Professor," Scorpius said as he walked to Professor Hagrid the next Monday after a class where they'd been learning about Griffins.

"What can I do fer yeh?" Professor Hagrid wondered pleasantly as he tossed the last scraps of raw meat to the herd.

"I was just wondering, is there any creature that sees auras?" Scorpius asked and the half-giant looked slightly surprised.

"Auras?" the professor repeated and Scorpius nodded, he scratched at his massive beard, "No, can't say tha' anything comes to mind. To be honest with yeh, I'm not even sure they're real."

"Okay, thanks Professor Hagrid," Scorpius offered politely and gave him a smile of gratitude before leaving.

He headed back inside the castle where everyone was going to lunch, wondering who else he could ask. Was aura something spell related? Runes? Divination? And how did it link to creatures? Would Professor Vipera know? Some ingredients came from creatures. The same could be said for Alchemy, Rojer might know. He could ask Rojer when he stayed behind to talk to him after class.

Scorpius' thoughts were interrupted by a scream, an ear-splitting screech that was getting closer. He glanced up, seeing a body plunging down. He withdrew his wand with a speed Varanian had taught him and cast a perfect nonverbal spell to slow moment, the boy came to a halt before hitting the ground then Scorpius let him down gently. They were wearing Gryffindor robes and when he went to give a hand up, he was shocked to see it was someone he knew: Lysander Scamander. The kid was trembling.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked fearfully, his heart still pounding and Lysander nodded mutely, his eyes completely wide, "D-"

"Thank you," Lysander gasped and abruptly threw his arms around him, "I prayed to my fairy guardians to save me, I'm glad they passed the word along to you. Thank you, thank all of you."

"No problem. How high did you fall from?" Scorpius wondered as Lysander pulled away, wiping his eyes quickly. He was still shaking.

"The top floor, I was putting away my things before lunch," Lysander told him, looking anxious, "I was just about to walk down when I felt like I was hit in the back then I was knocked over the side and I was just falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and fall-"

"I get it, Lysander," Scorpius interrupted the loop Lysander had seemed stuck in, his eyes filled with tears and he threw his still shaking arms around him again, "It's okay."

"Thank you! I thought I was going to die," Lysander wailed and Scorpius felt him sobbing onto his shoulder, "I don't want to die. Someone tried to kill me, they tried to kill me dead and my fairy guardians were helpless but you saved me. Thank you so much. Falling has become my new scariest way to die."

"Okay, you're welcome," Scorpius assured him and pried Lysander's arms off him, he continued to cry and Scorpius awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. He wasn't sure what else to do.

It was a worrying thought though, why did the Shadows want to kill Lysander? Why give him his memories back if they were going to kill him? Were they false memories? Were they trying to be misleading? What were they even being misleading about? Why not just kill him instead of giving him his memories back? Was it linked to them wanting to kill him? Or maybe he was jumping to conclusions, someone had tried to kill him with poison but Lysander had been essentially thrown to his death. It could have been bullies who just unintentionally pushed him into fatal situation when trying to knock him down.

"Did you see anyone around when you were hit?" Scorpius asked of the still crying Lysander, the boy nodded.

"Of course I saw people, its lunch time!" Lysander burst out in a sob, "Lots of people are walking up and down the stairs. I didn't which of them cast the spell, it could have been anyone there or no one at all. I read about these smoke people that can-"

"Did you see anyone who had it in for you? Do you have any enemies?"

"No," Lysander moaned with a shake of his head, "I didn't notice anyone but I wasn't really paying attention, most people are so boring. I don't have any enemies, I'm a nice person. I try to be a good person. Why? Did someone tell you I'm their enemy? Do I have an enemy? What did I do to this enemy?! Are they going to go after my family?! What kind of person did I inadversantly wrong?! What am I going to do?!"

"I don't know, just calm down," Scorpius told him gently and Lysander burst into tears again, throwing his arms back around him.

"How c-can I b-be calm? I j-just ne-nearly died!" Lysander cried, sobbing uncontrollably, "I w-was falling and falling and falling and falling…"

* * *

**Part 5: **The Eye of the Thestral

* * *

_Xerxes didn't want to sound arrogant or anything but he was quite sure he was the greatest human being on the planet, he had saved someone's life and a muggle life no less. How many people could say that? And not only had he saved Edythe but he helped her, he listened to her problems – he was one step ahead with his Legilimency but her talking about it was more productive to the healing process – when she needed to talk and let her cry on his shoulder when she needed to cry, all the while offering advice, support and encouraging her to live and improve her life. And on top of that, he helped her out more practically. Checking on and caring for her grandmother when Edythe was in school, cleaning up the house and giving her money for things and food. How wonderful a person was he? Xerxes thought he might be a saint, he was the kindest person he knew._

_He spent a lot of time with her, when not consumed entirely by suicidal thoughts she was curious about magic and magical world. She was amazed by the most common things, he found it really quite adorable and showing her spells almost never failed to draw a smile from her. She had a beautiful smile. In truth, she was quite a beautiful person and not just in appearance. She was very kindhearted and gentle, she'd go out of her way to help random animals, strangers on the street and even insects. It was really quite amusing and also kind of pointless, where had these random people and things been when she'd been about to literally throw her life away? Nowhere because and he alone had saved her. He took it as a good sign of her recovering though, taking an interest in things and it made her happy to think she'd made a difference._

_And of course he started sleeping with her, he actually waited over a month to make sure she was more stable from her attempt before making a move. She reciprocated of course, she was so alone, grateful and flattered really by his attention, she just wanted to feel loved but then didn't everybody? She was a bit reluctant to lose her virginity for a while but eventually caved and he should hope so, he deserved it after being so good to her and he'd been too busy with her for other girls so it was actually monogamous for the time being which was big for him. For a few months at the start of spring things were wonderful and he was quite satisfied, she lived only two floors below him and was went nowhere but school and grocery shopping so he could see her whenever he wanted essentially. Until May when she walked in on him during breakfast, he wished they delivered so he wouldn't have to go out and get it._

_"Hey Edythe…" Xerxes greeted her uncertainly, she was dressed for school and it was a school day, "Not that I'm not always pleased to see you but don't you have school?"_

_"Xerx, I'm pregnant," Edythe admitted and started trembling fearfully, her voice breaking from the effort of not crying. He stared at her in surprise for a minute, he had been lax in his precautions considering how frequently he saw her. Somehow, he'd also thought muggles would be harder to have children with since they were a different breed of human, "I've missed a few months and I took the test just now… I'm pregnant."_

_"Edy-" Xerxes was cut off as she burst into tears, he walked over to her and encircled his arms around her, he rubbed her back gently while inwardly excitement brewed once more, "Oh Edythe, come on. Don't cry, this is a wonderful thing."_

_"I-It is?" Edythe stammered out fearfully, pulling away just enough to meet his eyes, "Y-You're not g-going t-to leave me?"_

_"Of course not," Xerxes assured her and caressed her cheek, "Creating life is a beautiful thing, tough at times but worth it and we'll get through it together."_

_"I love you," Edythe whispered and buried her head back into his chest, he held her close._

* * *

"Now do you believe us, Scorpius? Are you going to start taking this seriously?" Michael questioned of him after Scorpius told him and Maurice - the others were probably already at dinner since they had had a different class - about what had happened to Lysander, "Someone's gunning for you and Lysander both."

"We can't be sure it wasn't the same person, it might've been unrelated," Scorpius protested and Michael threw his arms up in exasperation, "Lysander wasn't poisoned."

"When are these things ever coincidences?!"

"No one saw anyone fire a spell at Lysander," Maurice pointed out, "I think they used wandless magic to be more discrete and that's something the Shadows teach. Viola had to leave after her involvement in the kidnappings but there's a whole school of trained children they could've used to replace her, or were already there."

"What about the blood quill scars?" Scorpius wondered skeptically, "Shouldn't they have the scars like you and have an obsession with war?"

"They could have been taught to blend in and scars can be hidden, or it could be another of Xerxes' children. I know he had a bunch, more than just Carver and Viola. They were both trained but didn't have the scars because he decided to spare them."

"Even if you're right," Scorpius admitted with a heavy sigh, "What do we do about it? There are hundreds of students. It's not like we can check everyone in the school to see if they have tainted wands, trained kids might not even have tainted wands."

"Mine doesn't."

"Exactly!"

"We'll think of a way, we always do," Michael assured him, "In the meantime, we just need to be careful and keep an eye out."

"The question is: why do the Shadows want you and Lysander dead?" Maurice wondered curiously, folding his free arm, "You maybe I can understand since they're fools if they haven't realized your connection to Aaron but Lysander has never been involved so that can't be it, they're the ones who gave him his memories back so it can't be that he knows something they don't want him to. Pyrrhus was the one trying to kill him though, we still don't know why so it's possible he's still trying to kill him and this wasn't the Shadows at all so he could've snuck in somehow and wants you dead for some reason as well."

"Great," Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes, "So now its Florian or the Shadows, we can't even be sure who we're looking for. Florian can turn into a moth and knows Hogwarts from when he was a teacher, it might not be a student at all and he just snuck in."

"True, somehow I doubt the Aurors outside are patrolling for moths," Maurice nodded in agreement, "I'll tell Cassia to have birds kill any moth they see. I'm sure some birds eat moths anyway."

Scorpius supposed he couldn't argue with that, he still wasn't sure what to make of it or what to do about it. Why would Pyrrhus Florian want them dead? It was like Maurice had said, Scorpius was involved in things and had foiled his plans but Lysander hadn't. If Florian was on some twisted revenge mission then surely he'd have more reason to kill Lorcan then his twin since he'd stood up to him not Lysander, Florian had taught them so would be aware of the differences. They may be physically identical but their demeanors and mannerisms – not to mention house colors if they were in uniform - marked them easily as who was who, Florian knew this. Unless Lysander had just pissed Florian off in class or something and he was out for petty revenge against the poor, strange child. Or maybe his friends were wrong, Florian was after Lysander and the Shadows tried to kill him because they were Shadows. It wouldn't be the first time they had wanted him dead.

He tried to put it out of his mind and get back to focusing on his classes, he'd made up his mind to ask Rojer about the auras and if he didn't know then he'd try Professor Ashain in case it was some dark creature more related to defense. Scorpius thought they were getting a good grasp of the common processes used in practical alchemy, Rojer was having to hold their hands less and less and they were getting things done faster. Although progress did tend to feel slow still, some things just took multiple lessons to complete because of the complexity. They hadn't done any and Scorpius had since dropped the subject but he knew some more advanced potions would also take longer than even a double lesson. As usual, Scorpius stayed behind to help Rojer pack up the equipment with the guilt weighing on his mind.

"Good class," Scorpius offered as an opening, Rojer paused momentarily and slid him an odd look.

"Do you know that every class you stay behind and say this to me?" Rojer pointed out.

"Well you're a good teacher. Maybe you should even do it permanently."

"No, I do not like to teach and I never wanted to," Rojer shook his head vigorously as he started to wash up while Scorpius put away, "I wish to go back home, there I can work in the peace and the quiet."

"Can't argue with that, I wouldn't want to be a teacher either," Scorpius admitted and Rojer nodded in understanding, "I was just wondering something though because you seem to know a lot of things."

"All of my previous teachers would disagree with this but wonder if it pleases you."

"I was just wondering if you knew of any animals that could see auras."

"Auras?" Rojer repeated in confusion, "Describe these."

"Like a white or gray glow around a person with a kind of orb of light around the heart area," Scorpius explained and Rojer stopped what he was doing to stare at him, Scorpius wished Rojer's face was more expressive to figure out what he was thinking, "What-What is it?"

"You are the strangest boy," Rojer told him and dried his hands, leaving Scorpius alone without another word to clean up as he retreated into the door suspected of leading to his private quarters. Scorpius finished packing up, unsure if Rojer would return when the man did and with a small vial in his hand. He offered it to him, "Drink."

"D-Drink?" Scorpius wondered uncertainly as he took it, glancing down into the crystalline liquid it contained, "What is it?"

"Drink and I will answer. It is not poison and even if this was that then I can just save your life again," Rojer commented with a hint of a rarely seen smile as he sat on one of the workstation tables, Scorpius sat on the stool facing him.

Scorpius took a deep breath and nervously swallowed the vial, there was literally just enough for one mouthful. It was the strangest substance he had ever drunk, it was entirely tasteless and he almost felt like he was swallowing air. His eyes started to feel funny as if he'd just woken and needed to wipe the sleep from then, he couldn't help but rub them. When he reopened them, he noticed that Rojer too now had an aura. A gray glow surrounded him and in his heart was another orb of light, this one with a tint of crimson.

"Is this the auras you speak of?" Rojer questioned and Scorpius could only nod in surprise, the alchemist jerked his head at the vial, "This is named 'The Eye of the Thestral' and is supposed to show you their vision, supposed to let you see souls."

"Souls?" Scorpius repeated in shock while something else dawned on him surreptitiously, Rojer was a gray soul. He'd taken a life.

"There is more than one plane of existing, there is the physical realm and the… other one," Rojer started to explain, seeming to struggle for the English word there and giving up, "The worlds exist simultaneously overlapping but we do not, our bodies is in the physical and our souls are on the other but tethered to our flesh. Our minds are the link between them, the mind is part of the both and is holding us together. Thestrals are a special and unique creatures, they are not split in two and exist as flesh and soul at the same time in both of these realms. Because of this, their eyes see the flesh_ and_ the soul of men."

"Fascinating," Scorpius mused almost to himself, so it was Thestral eyes he'd transfigured into.

He usually kept his eyes closed to help focus though, he hadn't really noticed if his eyes had ever taken on another animal's sight or appearance. He knew it was unusual – although considering animagi weren't overabundant anyway, he wasn't sure how much – to have a magical creature as your animagus form but he wasn't sure how common it was to manifest some of their traits while learning it. After all, Wyatt had said the body was still figuring out what it was supposed to be and if everything that had ever happened during his training was part of his final form then he'd be some kind of mutated, monstrous freak of nature.

"I always thought so," Rojer admitted as he wandered back over to his desk, apparently having lost interest while Scorpius started off into space thoughtfully.

"I didn't know that about Thestrals though, I never heard of this potion before," Scorpius offered as he also walked back over to him, Rojer had started constructing something out of small sticks.

"It is Alchemy. And I am not surprised by this, I am probably the only one of the people in the world who can make it. There is few Alchemists anyway and this was invented by a serial killer."

"A serial killer?!" Scorpius blurted out in shock, for a split second connecting it to Rojer's gray soul, "Was it you?"

"No, it was not me," Rojer answered, throwing him an offended scowl, "It is before my time by multiple decades, he was a notorious serial killer right here in your country."

"Who?"

"Jack the Ripper. He was a Dark Wizard, he started doing experimenting with the souls of the victims when he ran out of experiments with the flesh of the victims. It is a cruel irony that he did actually learn a lot about the soul from these, a lot of what is known today and it is not more well-known due to being tainted by the badness," Rojer explained and shook his head, a disgusted expression on his face, "If you have to learn something by torture and death experiments like him then it is not worth learning, I would never do this."

"Neither would I," Scorpius agreed, his curiosity piqued but his eyes unable to shift from Rojer's soul, "You would kill though in other circumstances, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe."

"You _have_ killed," Scorpius specified and Rojer glanced at him as he stood.

"So have you," Rojer stated quite calmly and Scorpius felt his heart start to pummel his chest, Rojer had either taken some too or had at some previous time, "The both of our souls are tainted by blood."

"Who… Who did you kill?" Scorpius asked in scarcely more than a whisper, finding it hard to imagine the innocent child killing. He met Rojer's dark chestnut eyes but there was a long moment of silence, he wasn't sure he'd answer and feared overstepping his bounds.

"A man," Rojer admitted finally, averting his gaze and shifting uncomfortably, "A muggle. I did not know of his name. What about you?"

"A man," Scorpius muttered as he swallowed, his body shaking and his palms sweaty as he also averted his eyes, "He was a muggle too, a bad person. I err… I don't really want to talk about it."

"Neither do I," Rojer said shortly, sounding equally uneasy, "See you the next day."

"Bye," Scorpius stated, grabbing his bag and practically fleeing the room without even a backward glance at Rojer.

* * *

_Xerxes really didn't know what to say to that, he liked her certainly but he didn't know if he'd say he loved her. She seemed too preoccupied to notice his response so all was good, he was looking forward to being a father again especially since Senna wasn't the mother so he had more control. Edythe was extremely lacking in confidence, she was very afraid of doing something wrong that would hurt the unborn baby or worrying her young age and small stature would be bad for it or being inadequate as a mother when it was born and frequently looked to him for advice since he had Stephan. He would definitely get more control this time. As the months started to progress he started to realize another problem though, Edythe started showing and he found it really quite unsettling and repulsive to have sex with her when he knew his child was in there. He had the perfect excuse though._

_"In the wizarding world this is just how it works," Xerxes concluded his lie explaining why he was going on a date with another woman that night._

_"But we're not in the wizarding world," Edythe protested, looking upset, "Do you really have to? I don't mind doing things with you."_

_"Edythe, that harms the baby."_

_"It does?"_

_"It does when one of the people magical and it's a magical baby, it's almost certainly a magical baby. Do you really want to take the risk that it could kill our baby? Don't you want to be a good mother? Am I the only one that what's best for our child?!" Xerxes insisted and Edythe put her hands up in defeat, she sighed heavily and rubbed her bump._

_"Okay, whatever you have to do," Edythe agreed and kissed him, "Bye."_

_Muggles were so gullible. Not that wizards were any less gullible about muggle things. He knew about both though naturally because he was brilliant and life really was good, even not long after that when Edythe's elderly grandmother died on her. It was quite fortunate as now Edythe could move in with him and in general good for the grandmother, she'd lost any sense of who she was years ago and Xerxes liked to think she was better off in the afterlife with her mind intact again. _

_"At least she's at peace now," Edythe agreed, sniffing as she'd just finished crying about it onto Xerxes' shoulder where she remained nestled against him while he kept his arm protectively around her, "Do you think we could name the baby after her if it's a girl?"_

_"Maybe as a middle name for Viola, it's my favorite name," Xerxes countered, trying not to sound desperate, "For a boy, I was thinking Andreas, Kyran, Aldous, Everard or Davin."_

_"I like Ethan."_

_"Ethan?" Xerxes repeated and she nodded against his shoulder, really rather disliking the sound of it._

_"It's my favorite name."_

_"On second thought, naming a girl after your grandmother sounds perfect," Xerxes spoke up to change the subject, he could just save Viola for the next girl. He'd prefer the grandmother's name then Ethan._

_He drank to the poor old dead lady next night at the Leaky Cauldron, drank way too much and ended up in a ménage a trois with two girls who were celebrating graduated Hogwarts. Edythe got a job waitressing to help with money, she wanted to be a nurse as a career – being neither rich nor smart enough grade wise to be a doctor or vet like she'd originally desired – but was putting it off until after the baby was born so the waitressing was temporary. _

_Xerxes wasn't complaining, it got her out of the apartment so he could bring women back there. He actually quite liked living with her though, she knew how to cook and it saved on having to keep bouncing between the two apartments. He thought it would be great when the baby was born, they could share the workload and much better for the baby to have both parents under the same roof. Things were good a few months, it was until September he got an owl from one of the women from his drunken tryst asking to meet. He obliged out of curiosity but was sorely disappointed to see it was the ugly one, her face was misleading as it was delicate, her skin milky and her teeth pearly but she was so burly and stocky._

_"What do you want?" Xerxes asked of her icily, not wanting anything to do with this woman, "What even is your name?"_

_"Maeghan," the woman introduced herself acidly, looking offended that he didn't know to the point of looking on the verge of erupting into rage, "Maeghan Maryanne Edwards... AND YOU BLOODY WELL SHOULD KNOW MY NAME BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT WITH YOUR BABY!"_

* * *

Scorpius left Rojer in a rush, not wanting to have to explain about the muggles and feeling panic that Rojer knew he'd killed before. His panic eased though, he also knew that Rojer had killed and doubted he would say anything when Scorpius could just as evil say something about him. They also knew each other was a gray soul so regardless of the circumstances, they hadn't lost all hope yet. His panic reverted back to curiosity about Rojer, who had he killed? When? Why? Had he caused a hail of birds to attack his father's killers? That's what Cassia would've done and according to her, Rojer was also an Avisora so entirely possible. Maybe Maurice was wrong and Rojer had gotten away from Grindelwald's men, it would explain how he'd survived. Although it still didn't explain what had happened to cripple his leg or anything.

He was feeling calmer by the time he'd put his things back in his dormitory and was walking down to dinner, really it was quite lucky Rojer hadn't asked why he had inquired about the auras. It was on that thought he got to the Great Hall around people again and he realized he'd never asked for the antidote or how long until the Thestral vision wore off, he was greeted by a sea of white auras. It was almost dizzying. He quickly hurried along to find his friends, they were almost all white auras except for Maurice and Michael. It was quite curious because they were different shades, Michael's was only a pale gray while Maurice's was a much darker shade. Because Maurice had killed more? Wait, Maurice had killed before…

"What took you so-" Michael started to say but Scorpius cut him off.

"Hang on a second," Scorpius interjected and turned on his heel.

He started walking up and down the tables of students, looking for anything other than a white soul as it was very likely the assassin had killed before. Some seemed a more off-shade of white but there were no gray, not in Gryffindor, not in Ravenclaw, not in Slytherin – the supposed bad house – nor in Hufflepuff. He stopped at Orous though as he didn't have a soul or immediately not one noticeable, there was a blur around him where the aura should be and a barely noticeable, weak glow from his heart which was more in a ring like an eclipse. Was that what broken souls looked like?

Scorpius tried to discretely walk past the staff table to get a good look, now they were more a mixture of varying shades of whites and grays. It didn't surprise him, anyone gray he knew to have killed before and anyone white he didn't think had. Cassia was a gray soul, evidently killing people with birds was enough to mar the soul and Antonius was just like Orous. Broken souls were apparently colorless, they'd had the light taken from them.

"Can we help you with something?" the man sitting in the Headmaster's chair asked in a squeaky voice and Scorpius jumped in surprise, glancing at… Weedy Larry.

He couldn't recall his name, just the childish nickname Cassia had mentioned. He was weedy looking, he was very tall but thin like a stick with prominent elbows and large, long-fingered hands. He seemed middle-aged, his eyes were a dull brown hiding behind small, circular spectacles perched on his nose and his short hair was more equal parts salt and pepper. He wore white robes that blended in with the white of his soul, Scorpius opened his mouth to say something but the sentence would've started 'sorry, Weedy Larry' so he settled for shaking his head mutely.

"Then go back to your table with ten less points from Gryffindor for disrupting the staff, you should treat your elders with respect," the Headmaster – forget it, Scorpius decided he deserved to be called Weedy Larry – snapped in his apparently squeaky and rather annoying sounding voice. Who took points for that? He nodded politely regardless at what he deemed unfair and started to walk back, feeling the beady eyes following him as he went.

"What was that about?" Albus complained as Scorpius sat down with them finally, he shook his head again. Deciding to tell them when the Headmaster's eyes were not on him.

The Thestral vision wore off by the time he woke up the next day and the week passed uneventfully, he and Rojer didn't speak again of their killings at least and there was no further assassination attempts. He also didn't get a reply from Molly until that weekend, the response was sorely disappointing.

_Dear Scor,_

_It's great to hear from you and I'm sorry for the slow reply but I've been busy, I'm sure you'll do great as Captain (sounds like you're doing good so far!) and on your NEWTs. Try not to worry about this Rojer stuff too much. I'm alright, I can't say more until I see you in person. Considering the way owls were treated in your First Year, I'm sure you're not surprised. You're halfway through the term pretty much so it shouldn't be too long before we see each other again anyway._

_Unfortunately, I can't meet you in Hogsmeade next week. I'm busy with some important things right now, I'm really sorry. I might be able to for the next one though, owl me when you know the date._

_Lots of love (and apologies),_

_Molly_

_PS: Good luck against Slytherin! _

"Well Michael, it'll be just you and me in Hogsmeade since everyone else I'm pretty sure is with their dates and Molly can't make it," Scorpius said with a heavy sigh.


	5. Chapter 5: Birth of Beasts

_**Parts (18-21)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 5  
**

Birth of Beasts

* * *

**Part 1: **Dark Lights

* * *

"Hey Annie, can I talk to you for a second?" Dom questioned of the older woman nervously, Annie was putting away the groceries she'd just brought in.

"You just did," Annie pointed out unhelpfully without pausing but Dom ignored it, taking a deep breath.

"You were right, I _am_ pregnant."

"I know it," Annie nodded as she continued putting the things away, Dom waited a second for her to say more but she didn't.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What do I do?!" Dom demanded desperately, finally earning a glance from Annie who shrugged.

"I dunno, whatever you want. Nothing is happening right now this second, Pip's already out with Molly and Lat then Aurelius and Wyatt are out doing their animagi thing. Shadows are kind of inactive lately if you hadn't noticed, the ones in England are all focused on hunting Florian or us which doesn't help us deduce their plans and we still have no leads on saving Calderon or who killed half of Selwyn's men last month or why except it was something to do with a kidnapped kid-"

"I don't mean about that, I mean what am I going to do about being pregnant?!" Dom interrupted incredulously.

"Oh, I dunno. Why are you asking me?" Annie wondered before they were distracted by the sound of the door.

It wasn't the front door though but the door to Roman's room, he wandered out more nervously then Dom had and trembled. Roman Rivers wasn't looking good since his fiancée's death, he'd always been thin but it was still noticeable he'd lost weight. His face looked gaunt, his clothes disheveled and his dark hair in disarray, he also looked in need of sleep and a shave. Dom didn't know him well, he was her cousin Molly's maternal uncle but even she barely knew him. Roman spent most of his time in his room either crying or just being lost in his grief, he only really left to use the bathroom. His meals were brought to him and his laundry done for him, Wyatt, Molly and Annie seemed to put the most effort into caring for him.

"Well hey, look whose up," Annie said to him somewhat gently and patronizing as Roman shuffled over to her, "How are you doing?"

"I w-was wondering if there was anything I could do," Roman spoke very softly and hoarsely as he wrapped his arms protectively around himself, his shoulders hunching and his gaze drifting to the socks he was wearing with no shoes. He looked rather pathetic, Dom pitied him, "Y-You know, t-to help."

"Sure, you can help put the shopping away if you'd like," Annie offered and gestured to the bags, Roman slowly looked up at them and nodded a few times before moving to do it.

"Yeah, I-I can do that. I w-want to help."

"I know you do, you're doing great," Annie assured him encouragingly as Roman continued his task and she stopped to watch him instead.

"I n-need to g-get it together, b-be strong for my son."

"Of course."

"Annie, can I talk to you in private?" Dom insisted, not wanting the conversation she'd spent Annie's entire supply run working up the courage to speak about it while she waited for her return.

"I suppose," Annie reluctantly agreed and followed her into a seating area, "I'll be right back, Roman!"

"O-Okay," Roman's weak voice called back as Dom closed the door behind them.

"So what should I do about being pregnant?" Dom reiterated her original question and Annie rolled her eyes, opening the door again, "Annie!"

"Look, I'm not the one you should be talking to about this," Annie pointed out seriously, "I can help you with the health side but figuring out what do is really something to discuss with your husband."

"But I'm scared about how he'll react."

"So be brave and tell him, he's the one to talk to first and you know it," Annie offered her final advice as she left, leaving Dom to sigh and feel anxious.

She supposed Annie had a point, however she had wanted to talk to someone nonpartisan because she had a feeling Aurelius would freak out and knew it would stir things up with her family. At the very least with her father, she couldn't imagine him taking the news well at all. She slumped into one of the silent seats and put a hand to her churning stomach, their child had picked a really lousy time to exist, when tensions were still high with her father and they were in the midst of a freaking war that Dom was fighting in. Wars were no place for a baby. How was she supposed to fight in a war with a baby inside her?

"Hey," a familiar voice greeted her and Dom's head shot up immediately as her husband joined her.

She jumped to her feet and smiled instinctively to try hide the fact she was upset so he wouldn't ask so she could put off telling him because she still childishly wanted to avoid the subject. Aurelius Ashain was of average height but had quite a wiry frame, he was in his mid-sixties but didn't look it and could easily pass for one of his sons. He had a full head of extremely dark auburn hair that fell almost to his shoulders in faces, it framed a clean-shaven handsome face with dark chestnut eyes set into it and a perfect, pearly white smile that he gave her as he approached. As usual he was also dressed in robes of the most bizarre and clashing shades, he did have some eccentric tendencies that she'd come to grow fond of.

"Hey," she offered as he approached, pressing her lips against his gently when he reached her and he encircled his arms around her.

"You know, I think I actually might've found out something useful today," Aurelius told her cheerfully, seeming in a good mood. All the more reason to not tell him and ruin it, "I heard from a flock of geese, who heard from two pigeons, who heard from a mockingbird, who heard from an owl friend of its mate that in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the little girl who can talk to birds has them keeping an eye on some students."

"Keeping an eye on some students?"

"Yes, because apparently she thinks that some humans are trying to kill them and have already tried. It could be connected to the Shadows, it's just odd Scorpius hasn't mentioned it to Varanian," Aurelius concluded, his smile slipping to look thoughtful, "Oh, and there's a new teacher who apparently can also talk to birds."

"Interesting," Dom mused, trying to care but her mind was being weighed down by the baby thoughts while Aurelius nodded and his smile returned.

"So how has your day been, dear?"

"My day? Good. Great. Nothing to report," Dom lied and his expression immediately wavered.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Nothing's wrong," Dom protested but he didn't look the slightest bit convinced.

"Something's bothering you, I can tell. What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Is it your Father?"

"It's not my Father."

"Did something happen to Molly while she was out learning stealth with Varanian or something?"

"No," Dom insisted while Aurelius continued to look concerned, "Just drop it."

"Did something happen to someone else?"

"No."

"Is it to do with the Shadows?"

"No!"

"Are you sure it's not to do with your Father?" Aurelius inquired, starting to look very anxious now and she snapped.

"I'm pregnant!" Dom blurted out and he took half a step back as if he'd been slapped in the face.

"Are… Are you sure? I think I'm too old to sire children."

"You're not too old, I told you! I warned you we still had to be more careful but you didn't listen and now I'm pregnant!" Dom burst out and threw up her arms in defeat, finding tears spilling from her eyes, "I'm going to have a baby, an actual living human baby. In the middle of a world wrenching war that I'm supposed to be fighting. And my Father is going to be furious out and you're going to freak and-"

"Shhhh," Aurelius interrupted gently and put his arms back around her, holding her tightly close this time, surprised but grateful for the comfort, "Shhh, Dom, it'll be okay."

"How will it be okay? I don't know what to do," Dom sobbed into his shoulder, "We're in the middle of a war with Shadows, soul-destroying monsters, massive amounts of death and pain and suffering, darkness. There's so much darkness, Aurelius, how are we supposed to bring a child into this world when there's so much bad?"

"Maybe that's all the _more_ reason to bring a child into this world, there fact there's so much bad is all the more reason to have something good to hold on to," Aurelius offered gently as he rubbed her back soothingly, "You need good things, they're like littles lights that show you just a little bit of the beautiful world you thought was lost forever in the darkness covering everything. It gets so dark you forget what the good looked like, forget that it's still there if you can just chase away the darkness. You don't want to be consumed by darkness, you want light. And the best lights are the people you love and who love you, for me that's my sons and my beautiful wonderful wife I am very sorry for not listening to."

"You could have a point," Dom admitted, smiling somewhat to herself at his words. She liked how he looked at the world, "But I still worry something bad could happen."

"Dom, you never stop worrying something bad could happen to your children," Aurelius said seriously, "It's part of being a parent not part of being in a war."

"What about the rest?"

"Your Father's issues are his own, he would have them whatever point in our lives we had children. And you can still help in the war, Austin and Roman don't leave the base so you can just stay and do what you can for here for the pregnancy. Once she's born, you can go back to usual and I'm sure we can arrange a schedule where she'll be cared for. If I could learn to take care of Brutus as an ignorant teenager when he was dumped on my doorstep then you can learn, I can show you. Babies are actually the easy part which you wouldn't think so with the sleep depravity but it is, it's when they get older that they get difficult."

"I have to say, you're taking this much better than I expected," Dom admitted, genuinely quite surprised.

"Well there is a part of me that wants to scream in terror and fly around in a mad panic but I figure that can wait, there needs to be a rule where only one of us can freak out at a time because if not then how are we going to support each other?" Aurelius explained and she smiled to herself again, pulling away to look him the eye, "That's what couples do. Or should do or… What?"

"I love you," Dom affirmed with the smile that he returned before she kissed him again, this time more lingering.

"I love you too."

* * *

_"Huh," Xerxes mused to himself, he really needed to stop having sex when he was too drunk to remember contraceptive spells._

_"THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY?!" Maeghan shrieked at him, "MY FATHER CALLED ME A SLUT AND A DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY NAME, HE THREW ME OUT OF THE HOUSE BECAUSE OF THIS!"_

_"So did mine pretty much," Xerxes scoffed angrily at the memory and rubbed at his ear, "And could you stop yelling? If you're not going to discuss this as civilized adults then I'm going to leave and come back when you are, your voice hurts my ears."_

_"I don't want to talk!" Maeghan yelled but seemed to be trying to reign in her rage and continued through gritted teeth, "I want money for an abortion. Then maybe Daddy will let me go back home, I only have enough money with me for a few more nights here and I don't get paid until next week."_

_"No!" Xerxes burst out in shock, he didn't want his child to die. Maeghan looked like she was about to yell again but he held up his hand desperately and elaborated, "I want my child. I'll give you money to support you through the pregnancy if you keep it, make sure you have a roof over your head and are fed, if you keep the child after I'll give you money to baby things too and if you don't then I'll take full custody and responsibility. Just don't kill my child."_

_"IT'S NOT A CHILD YET, YOU IDIOT, IT'S AN UNBORN SPECK!" _

_"Well that's how I feel," Xerxes stated stubbornly as he folded his arms, "Take the money and keep the baby or pay for it yourself, I'm not helping you kill my own child. Even if it's unfortunate enough to have half of your DNA. So what do you think? And use your inside voice."_

_"I think I hate you! Don't you know how long I've had to think about this and when I finally come to a decision you make me go and have to rethink it all over again!"_

_"Yes or no?"_

_"I'LL THINK ABOUT IT!" Maeghan screeched, "NOW GET OUT!"_

_Xerxes was then glad to be told to leave and his ear drums thanked him, he could only hope she'd agree to give him the baby so he wouldn't have to talk to her again. Edythe took the news harder than he had, upset he was having a child with someone else in the first place and anxious at the thought of being overwhelmed by a second baby. Maeghan contacted him a few days later to agree to keeping the baby, he sent her enough money to cover the cost of the room until she was paid and advised to look for a place to live more permanently the sooner the better to work out how much money she'd need. He wasn't made of money, knowing how much he needed to give her would be useful. Maeghan's baby wasn't due until March whereas Edythe's was due in November, he was almost afraid to start dating but felt starved by October and caved. He arranged a date for October 22nd with the sister of one of his clients, however Edythe stopped him when he was literally about to walk out the door._

_"X-Xerx, m-my w-water broke," Edythe told him fearfully, her face had completely drained of all color, "I th-think th-the baby's coming."_

_"It'll be okay," Xerxes shushed her gently and encircled his arms around her, she clung to him shakily and he apparated them to the nearest muggle hospital. _

_He felt very torn though, on one hand he was eager to see his child born but he did also want to go out still. Like someone had case the Wand-Lighting Charm inside his mind, he suddenly realized he could do both. Labor took forever, he just had to make sure the date was fast and he should be back with plenty of time to spare. Really, it was the only thing he could do because he couldn't let down his poor date._

_"Edythe," Xerxes stated and took hold of her should gently as she started to waddle into the hospital, she turned back to him, "I'll be back as soon as I can."_

_"You're still going on your date?" Edythe wondered incredulously._

_"You don't want me to let this poor woman, do you? It's my first in a while and she'd be upset if she thought I stood her up," Xerxes protested and her eyes started to water, he wiped away the tears with his finger gently, "Look, we both read in the books that labor usually takes a long time. I'll be back long before the baby is actually born, I promise."_

_"Please Xerx, don't leave me now," Edythe pleaded with desperately, capturing his eyes with her beautiful sage green ones, "I've never asked you for anything before, I've done everything you've wanted, I haven't even complained about you cheating on me with those other women, I know the excuse you gave was bullshit but I still said it was okay because I love you. I'm scared, I'm really scared that something will go wrong, I don't want anything to happen to the baby. Please stay with me, Xerx, please, just do this one thing for me. I'll do anything you want, you can name the baby whatever you want just don't go. I beg you."_

_"I'm sorry," Xerxes apologized guiltily and she went to turn her head away but he cupped her chin in his hand and turned it back, her tears dribbled down onto his fingers, "Nothing will go wrong, I swear to you and if it does then I'll be back in time to help."_

_"Sure," Edythe said as she put a hand to her bulging baby bump, not sounding the slightest bit like she believed him as she went to turn away again but he again stopped her, "Xerxes, I'm in pain! I need the doctors, if you want to go then get the hell out of here already."_

_"I love you," Xerxes told her seriously and her expression softened as his lips pressed hers before he apparated away._

_Xerxes did kind of regret his decision to leave, he was distracted the whole date by thinking about Edythe and the baby. But he knew himself, if he had stayed then he'd have been by distracted thinking about his date the whole time. There really was no point in his being there so early anyway, the books had said it nearly always took a long time. It'd be uncomfortable watching her be in pain when there was nothing he could do about it, there was no point that they both suffer. Even distracted he still managed to worm his way into her mind to use it against her, she invited him back to her place after and he stayed true to his word about returning to the hospital when it was over. He was in a much better mood then he'd been in a few hours ago, he strolled up to the front desk with confidence._

_"I'm here for my girlfriend, Edythe Blake," Xerxes told the slightly plump but nonetheless attractive receptionist, "She called me a few hours ago to tell me she was in labor, I was out of town but I came as fast as I could."_

_"Blake? Are you Xerxes Seneca?" a passing nurse repeated and Xerxes nodded, she swallowed nervously, "I'm so sorry."_

_"Sorry? Why are you sorry?" Xerxes demanded and the nurse averted her eyes, he almost dived into her mind but somehow he was afraid to, "What happened? Where is she? Is the baby okay?"_

_"Maybe you should sit down and wait for the doctor," the nurse muttered and he stalked over to her determinedly._

_"No! I want to see her, take me to her. Take me to her right now!"_

_"Then I'd have to take you to the morgue," the nurse told him in a whisper and Xerxes backed away in horror, "There were complications… She said if it came down to it then we should save the baby… We did everything we could but she didn't make it, I'm so sorry."_

_"What-What about the baby?" Xerxes quietly, shakily falling into one of the waiting chars because if he didn't sit then he thought he'd collapse._

_"The baby survived, you have a healthy baby boy. Would you like to see him?"_

_"Of course I want to see him!" Xerxes snapped, his voice breaking as she scuttled away._

_He buried his face in his hands to try hide his sobs, he couldn't believe Edythe was dead. She'd been fine a few hours ago, she'd been alive. He knew some healing spells and he knew where Saint… something, the British magical hospital was, if he had been there then he probably could have saved her. He wasn't sure why he was crying so hard though, he hadn't realized he'd cared that much or maybe he was just sad his son had lost his mother. _

_He heard a cough and glanced up, wiping his eyes hastily as the nurse had returned with a bundle of squirming, sky blue blankets. He held out his arms and she handed him his son, his second son. The baby was much smaller than Stephan had been, he had tufts of red hair and when he opened his little eyes, Xerxes saw Edythe's sage green ones staring back at him. He cried as he smiled at the small baby that he was free to name whatever he wanted… What had been the ugly name Edythe had been so fond of?_

_"Ethan."_

* * *

Carver Matthew Edwards stalked through the halls of unhappy memories, the Training Tower it was called, where Shadows sent children to become elite soldiers. He despised the place and the regime in general, he didn't think it was right for them to treat people this way let alone children. They started young too, deliberately to try make them forget their families so their only loyalty was to the Shadows. He was still quite angry at Harry Potter for not accepting his uncle's deal, these kids had had a real chance to be saved when Pyrrhus had murdered all the staff, he wasn't sure if all the kids had a chance at a normal life but he felt they still should've had the chance. It was too late now though, they'd essentially done the magical equivalent of changing the locks and hid its location. Even if the Ministry was told where it was now, they'd have a fight on their hands to say the least and they'd just move the kids to Greece or Turkey. There were some muggles slaves there too now, they did things like cleaning and cooking as far as he knew. They also could've been saved if Potter hadn't been so stupid, how had he not thought Pyrrhus' deal was worth it? Was he so caught up on petty squabbles that he was willing to sacrifice hundreds of lives, and children's lives at that?

If Potter had just agreed then Carver wouldn't be in this mess, he didn't like his uncle's plan but he didn't see much choice. Reminding himself that seven lives weren't worth more than the rest of the world only did so much to ease his guilt, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Still, when it boiled down to the better option between life on the run, joining the people trying to destroy the world or doing something – albeit drastic – to stop the war, Pyrrhus' plan seemed like the lesser of evils. He still didn't know if it would work though especially now that its mastermind was hallucinating dead brothers, they could be killing these kids for nothing so it was a gamble. At least when they died they'd die for something, it was better to die for a chance at peace or at least Carver thought so. He didn't want to die but he would if it was necessary, at least he'd know he died trying to do the right thing for once. He knew he'd made a lot of mistakes, he hoped putting an end to the Shadow Master helped atone. Either that or it was just another mistake he was making, he was dumb as mud so he couldn't be sure.

He wasn't at the Training Tower for that though, he was making a social call to wish his brother a happy birthday. Carver would be lying if he said he was a good brother, Xerxes had had eight children aside from him and his mother five so he had a grand total of thirteen half-siblings, all but two of them being younger. As a child he'd always resented this, he'd just be presented with a screaming bundle and told it was his brother or sister that he was supposed to love. He'd never understood why that was supposed to matter, never known how he was supposed to love this annoying crying thing that turned into an annoying whiney thing that constantly got in the way, especially since he didn't see much of them. While his views had mellowed and he'd grown to care for them, he was by no means close to all fourteen of them and hadn't always been good to them. He very much disliked Stephan and Viola, he also hadn't met the child his mother had been pregnant with when she turned her back on him. He did worry greatly for them though, they either had to live under the Shadows' or his stepfather's regime for the most part, then there was the sister risking her life in Hogwarts to kill the kids.

Carver sighed heavily as he reached his brother's door, knocking to announce his presence before unlocking it and entering. It was a decent sized room but very bare, there was a narrow bed in the corner with the bedding removed, a comfortable couch pressed up against the wall with a view of the barred window, a desk with the sharp edges turned to soft padding and a few chairs, there was also a door in the far corner that led to the also restricted bathroom. Ethan had a fragile mental state thanks to the Shadows' regime and his own opposition to hurting people, Xerxes had had to take precautions to keep his suicidal son alive and thankfully Stephan had ensured these remained intact even after his demise. Stephan may be a cruel bastard but he did care to some degree about his younger siblings, he had some loyalty to family. Ethan was tall like their father with a strong jaw but his features were much softer and his body very thin, he had short red hair like Xerxes but striking sage green eyes that carried thick shadows beneath them. He also wasn't alone.

"Carver!" Davin Dawson cried excitedly as he rushed over, he was his father's seventh born child who was seven years old. He was a scrawny boy with a tangled head of dirty blond hair and violently violet eyes, he threw his arms around him and Carver returned the hug, "Haven't seen you in ages."

"I know," Carver admitted as Davin pulled away, shocking Carver as he noticed a scar running down the boy's cheek.

"Did you know that Dad died?" Davin asked him seriously and sadly before Carver could comment on it, "They said that Uncle Pyrrhus killed him."

"Yes I know," Carver confirmed dismissively and gestured to the scar, "What happened to your face? They're not supposed to hurt you."

"Oh," Davin said and lowered his voice, his eyes widening slightly in surprise and he nodded his head behind him where Ethan was healing a boy he didn't know, "Got it protecting Cyrus ages ago, he's blind so it's hard for him to train and they're not kind to him. They were using a whipping spell and when they wouldn't stop I tried to help him so they disarmed me so I jumped in the way to protect him."

"Why the hell did you do that?!"

"It worked, they had to stop," Davin protested, "My Mommy said you should look out for the people who can't look out for their selves."

"You shouldn't sacrifice yourself to do it," Carver insisted, anxious at the thought of his brother putting himself in harm's way. Davin's mother had been killed by the Shadows when she found out about the Training Tower and intended to tell, he didn't want the same to happen to Davin.

"If I don't then who will? It's really rough for Cyrus and he doesn't deserve it, he's a nice person and he doesn't even want to be a soldier. Thinking of seeing his Mommy again is all that is keeping him going on, did I tell you they're not kind to him?"

"You told me."

"He's smart though and he can speak three languages, English, Greek and Arabic. I think the Arabic will come in useful when we take over Egypt, he can translate and stuff so it might be better for him then. Unless you want to help him escape and find his Mommy, her name is Leil-"

"All done," Ethan's soft voice spoke up from behind them and both brothers turned, seeing he was done with the healing.

"Thank you," Cyrus said in a small but grateful voice and Davin ran immediately back over to him, it gave Carver a better look.

Cyrus was small, maybe slightly younger than Davin with fair skin and much neater blond hair. There was no definition in his eyes, they were just all cloudy as if someone had captured smoke in them. It was the strangest thing though, Carver thought he looked oddly familiar or at least reminded him of someone. He couldn't quite put his finger on who though.

"Thanks, Ethan, you're the best," Davin offered to his brother grateful and hugged him as well, taking the wand from his brother – Ethan wasn't allowed to keep his own wand on him - and pocketing it before taking Cyrus' heavily scarred hand to lead him towards the door, "I'll see you later. This way, Cyrus, we should still have time for lunch. Bye Carver."

"See you," Carver nodded and felt sympathetic as the boys moved past him.

"That's another of my brothers, Carver," Davin explained to Cyrus as they left, Carver closed the door behind them.

"Let me guess, Pyrrhus needs to be healed again or maybe you need another of our family to sacrifice?" Ethan guessed incorrectly and rather unhappily as Carver approached him.

"Can't I just drop in to see my brother on his birthday?" Carver complained as he pulled up a chair to sit facing Ethan.

"Today's my birthday?" Ethan wondered in surprise and Carver nodded, "Huh, I didn't know. How old am I know?"

"Eighteen."

"I'm getting old," Ethan mused sadly and rubbed his eyes.

"We both are," Carver agreed, he felt too old to be only seventeen, "How are you doing?"

"Great. Every day is paradise when you're confined to a room and not allowed anything."

"They have to do that for your own safety, if you didn't keep trying to kill yourself then you'd be allowed out."

"I don't want to live in the Soul Eaters' world of cruelty and pain, I don't want to _live_, I don't want to be a soldier and a torturer and a murderer," Ethan insisted fiercely, "I just want to die. It's my choice and everyone should respect that, if anyone else was my father then the Soul Eaters would have killed me themselves."

"When Pyrrhus' plan comes to fruition, the war should end and you won't have to live in the Soul Eaters' world anymore."

"Pyrrhus' plan is going to fail, dear brother," Ethan told him, sounding very sure as he stood to pace around him, "He's going to get himself killed, you'll die with him, so will she and they'll even butcher Oathan because if they don't then Viola will."

"It will work, the war will end," Carver protested determinedly as he stood to face Ethan, the lanky boy now standing staring out of the window with his arms folded, "My siblings don't have to be soldiers and James can go back to his family before he falls too far."

"The war will only end in the Soul Eaters' victory, there's no hope, no one can stop it especially not a teenager, a child, a toddler and a crazy person. You're going to die Carve, you're going to die," Ethan reiterated and his eyes welled with tears, "Will you even live to your eighteenth birthday? Its only March but I'm not even sure anymore. And you're going to get my sister killed along with you."

"Martha wants to help, she wants the war to end just like I do."

"Of course she wants the war to end, our Father just died. She, Davin and I don't have mothers anymore, Father was all we had and now all we have our each other. She doesn't want to lose anyone else."

"It's her choice, she knows what she signed up for."

"Martha is a child!" Ethan yelled, "She's not even passed the test and you're just throwing her out there, locking her away in Hogwarts where she's alone, where you won't be able to protect her when the Soul Eaters find out. We know they've infiltrated the Aurors, Aurors who patrol the grounds now. Do you think it will be hard for them to kill her? They'll torture her until they get your names and then she'll die horribly, they don't want the marked children to die. And then there's Gray, half of them are part of Varanian's lot and Maurice is trained. I don't know where Varanian stands but you know Maurice will torture her until he gets your names, he didn't hesitate on his own grandfather and he won't hesitate to butcher her. She'll die horribly either way then everyone will be after you and then you die too. Both of you dead because you chose to chase the dreams of a madman."

"They won't find out," Carver insisted, he had no intention of getting his sister killed.

"You don't think they'll put it together when the marked children start dying? Martha and I are the only ones to have our father's name, Maurice will recognize it and so will the Shadows. You'll both die. Pyrrhus and Oathan too. Everyone will die," Ethan said, wiping at the tears spilling from his eyes, "And I'll just be alone, locked in my little room because I'm not allowed to so instead I just have to watch everyone I love die. The Shadow Master will win and when she does, everyone else will lose. We already have."

"Well what's your plan? What would you have me do?!" Carver questioned of his crying brother, throwing up his hands in frustration, "Give up and wait to die?!"

"I don't have a plan, I don't know what to do. I just want to die, there's no other way out and I can't cope with all this. I can't."

* * *

**Part 2: **A Trip to Hogsmeade

* * *

Scorpius couldn't help but feel incredibly disappointed that Molly wasn't meeting him in Hogsmeade and very concerned, they were supposed to be trying to make it work long distance but she couldn't meet him or even take the time to reply to his messages? Had she lost interest in him? Was she less committed to the relationship then he was? Surly there was a way around this, after all Annie had been staying with Varanian all of last year and they'd still written to each other. Or was he being paranoid? It was only October still.

"Of course you're being paranoid," Michael insisted when he expressed these worries to him at breakfast the day before the Hogsmeade trip, he threw up his hands in frustration, "And seriously?! You'll obsess over this before giving any thought to who tried to kill you?! You know you can't date Molly if you're dead."

"I know," Scorpius protested as the others started joining them.

"Well?" Albus questioned immediately of Michael, rubbing his hands together eagerly, "Have you thought about it?"

"No, the answer is no just like it was when you first asked me," Michael stated, throwing him a look of irritation.

"Come on!" Albus pleaded and stamped his foot on the ground childishly, "Grozda's friend is really nice, I've met her and I've shown you she's good-looking. What's the problem? You can at least give her a chance."

"The problem is I _don't_ want to date anyone right now. How can I make this any clearer? If you really want to help me then drop it."

"But-"

"Drop it," Maurice spoke up firmly, "If he doesn't want to date then you can't force him so leave it alone, you're getting as bad as Scorpius is about Rojer. There are more pressing concerns, like how someone is trying to murder Scorpius and Lysander. Cassia is doing more than you people and she's eight."

"Ashain's kids are strange people," Albus brushed it off dismissively, "Good but strange."

"And that's why one day she'll be Head Auror and you'll be sweeping floors for a living."

"Hey! I'm going to be a Potioneer, I'll have you know."

"A Potioneer who didn't even get an Outstanding for OWL Potions?" Maurice scoffed coolly and Albus' face went red, he looked upset, "Yeah, right. And that's your best subject."

"Leave him alone!" Abby snapped immediately, "What is your problem?! Not everyone can be good at everything like you can, you know?!"

"I'm just being honest," Maurice shrugged, looking somewhere between surprised and offended while Albus just stared glumly into his bowl.

"Are you even going to Hogsmeade, Michael?" Rose inquired, almost as if to change the subject.

"Wasn't planning on it," Michael brushed it off dismissively.

"You have to come," Scorpius insisted, "Molly's not coming and if you're not coming then I have no one, everyone else has a date."

"What am I, a potted plant?" Maurice spoke up irritably to Scorpius' surprise.

"No, I just thought you'd be going with Len-" Scorpius started to say but trailed off as he recalled the girl was dead, Maurice looked away upset while the rest of his friends looked at him incredulously.

"I'm going to go make sure my things are ready for the first class," Maurice muttered as he stood and left.

"Tres bien," Corin said, his tone sarcastic even if Scorpius didn't know what the words were, "Don't you know he still cries at night over her?"

"I'm sorry, I just forgot," Scorpius admitted guiltily.

"You forgot?"

"I just wasn't thinking."

"Well I guess now I have to go," Michael said with a heavy sigh, "One of us there should be thinking."

Maurice acted like nothing had happened for the rest of the day so Scorpius was left very uncertain whether to apologize or just say nothing, Maurice had never apologized to Albus. The next day, Albus was in better spirits despite taking up most of breakfast anxiously trying to decide what to wear to his date with Grozda which required asking them tedious questions and delaying their descent to breakfast.

"I'm of age now," Albus pointed out when they finally headed down, his birthday was earlier that month, "It's more serious dating when you're of age, I have to make a good impression especially on our anniversary."

"Alright, alright," Scorpius and Michael brushed it off.

"And you know, Michael, there's always time for you to dress up and maybe shave to go out with Grozda's friend."

"No!" Michael snapped irritably as they entered the Great Hall, going over to the others.

Albus opened his mouth to reply but something caught his eye and he did a double take, gazing at Abby who had dressed herself up for her date – as had Rose but Scorpius didn't think he'd be looking at his cousin that way – and let down the long golden hair she usually kept in a massive braid. Scorpius elbowed him when he noticed him staring and Albus staggered forward, he'd snapped out of it when he righted himself though and sat down across from her with a disapproving expression.

"So _that's_ what you're going to wear on your date, Abby?" Albus questioned of her, "Really?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Abby wondered, somewhere between worried and irritated to which Albus held up his hands as if innocent.

"Nothing. I mean I'm just saying if you have to try so hard to keep Pentakel interested by dressing like that then he can't really like you that much."

"Maybe I just felt like dressing up nice!" Abby protested angrily as Albus started piling food onto his plate, "And how can you criticize me when you're dressed like that?!"

"I'm taking Grozda to a fancy restaurant, I have to dress up nice," Albus pointed out as if it were obvious, he also paused and started adding extra to his plate, "Should eat up, last time I was there I was still hungry when I left because the portions are so smile."

"Oh, I see," Abby said suddenly looking more smug, she seemed to calm a bit she went back to eating her food much to Albus' puzzlement.

"See what?"

"Nothing. I mean it's just kind of obvious that if you have to try so hard to keep Grozda interested by taking her to fancy restaurants and showering with gifts then she can't really like you that much."

"It's not like that at all!" Albus snapped angrily, "Grozda likes me loads, I'll have you know. We're soul mates, we were made for each other, we're madly in love and one day Grozda is going to be the next Mrs Potter."

"_You_ say that but does _she_?" Abby countered, "You do all these romantic gestures for her but what has she ever done for you? What has she ever done to show you that she's invested in the relationship?"

"Abby, she's a _girl_," Albus scoffed, "Girls don't have to do that stuff, guys have to do stuff for them so we don't have to be sad and alone."

"Lenore learned sign language for me," Maurice pointed out before his expression turned wistful.

"That proves nothing!"

"Face it, if anyone is not interested then its Grozda in you," Abby stated triumphantly, earning a glare from Albus.

"That is not so true, we have a much better relationship then you and Pentakel," Albus insisted determinedly, "We're been together way longer and have way more in common, he doesn't even have a sense of humor."

"That doesn't mean anything! And just because he doesn't laugh at other people's names, it doesn't mean he doesn't have a sense of humor! He's just more mature then you so you wouldn't understand."

"You're just mistaking maturity for boredom."

"Well you're just-"

"You two just pack it in and eat your damn breakfast or I'll knock your heads together!" Michael snapped at them in frustration, the pair exchanged dark looks with each other but obliged and silently – albeit angrily – ate their food.

"If I could have your attention!" an irritating and loud voice spoke up, Scorpius turned unenthusiastically to the Headmaster, Weedy Larry. He had to put his wand to his neck to make his squeaky voice loud enough to be heard by the whole hall, sadly Scorpius recalled that Calderon just took care of that for Headmasters before… he missed his cousin, "This applies to any students planning to go to Hogsmeade today. Due to the recent trouble, the Aurors patrolling the grounds will also be patrolling the route to Hogsmeade and the town. This is for your own protection so do not be alarmed by their presence, they will be on the lookout for any suspicious behavior. That is all, have a pleasant day and we hope you enjoy your visit."

"Prick," Scorpius muttered under his breath, he hadn't forgotten being told off by him nor had he forgotten several Aurors were Shadows.

They filed out as usual where Professor Longbottom was there to check permission slips, starting from the oldest years and working their way down. Grozda and Sequoia Pentakel both got their slips checked first then waited around for their dates, Albus and Abby left with their respective partners immediately, walking as far away from each other as possible while still being on the same path. Rose had to wait for Corin's to be checked since he was the year below before leaving, Vern and his girlfriend Olivia left when they were checked while Orous had to wait since Lily was the year below. August watched them go unhappily and hung back with Hugo and Lorcan, Lysander seemed to have a date with a girl he didn't know and was grinning from ear to ear. Nott and Knight had also stayed back oddly, waiting with Byron and Pol who were now old enough to go to Hogsmeade and Knight went over to queue with them.

"What's all that?" Scorpius couldn't help but wonder aloud as Knight seemed to show the professor an extra piece of paper, unfortunately he was in earshot of Nott.

"They're orphans and their grandparents died in the last Hogsmeade attack," Nott spoke up solemnly, "They granted Kenelm adult status and guardianship of Byron since he's only a year away from being of age, saves on finding family or homes for them. He just wanted to make sure Byron's slip is accepted, he brought the letter from the Ministry just in case."

"Right."

"Plus we have to stay with Pol and make sure he's okay, it was the only way Koray would let him go since there's a lot of walking and it's stressful on his damaged lungs," Nott explained, "Why are you waiting?"

"No idea, Scorpius just decided to watch everyone," Maurice offered and Scorpius felt himself blushing.

"Come on," Scorpius growled and stalked off, the other two following.

"You'll randomly watch everyone get their permission slips signed but you won't think about the people trying to kill you?" Michael wondered as they walked in the surprisingly pleasant weather, it wasn't warm exactly but it also wasn't cold, windy or wet so he felt pretty content.

"I'm just not used to walking to Hogsmeade without Molly, I felt like I had to wait for her."

They walked in an odd silence, Maurice had to be because his translator necklace was awkward to use while walking, Scorpius wasn't the best at making conversation and Michael seemed too lost in his own dread of Hogsmeade. He noticed the Aurors as promised, walking on the outskirts of the route which immediately make Scorpius feel on edge considering some of them were Shadows and the Shadows had tried to kill him. It wasn't until they reached the gates to Hogsmeade that he had to interact with any of them though, a middle-aged female Auror was standing guard by it and watching those going through warily. Her graying brown hair was wavy and shorter than shoulder-length which served to frame a face lined by age, her lips were very pursed and her dark eyes were sharp. And when they saw Scorpius, they narrowed.

"Halt," the woman said and held out her arm to stop him, "You're Scorpius Malfoy, aren't you?"

"Yes," Scorpius confirmed uncertainly, "Who are you?"

"Syntyche Cistro, I'm in charge of the Aurors guarding the school," she introduced herself, sounding quite proud but looking at him with a look of loathing, "And I'm going to have to search you before I can allow you into Hogsmeade."

"What? Why? You haven't been doing that to others," Michael protested with a scowl.

"The others didn't give me cause to be suspicious. You two are fine to go, it's just Malfoy you must be searched."

"What have I done?" Scorpius demanded and her eyes snapped back to him.

"You're a known associate of Atticus Ashain."

"So? He's one of the good guys."

"Good guys?" Cistro scoffed, her face contorted with rage, "He's aided and abetted Death Eaters, Soul Eaters and fugitives. He deserves to rot in New Azkaban for the rest of his life for his crimes, helping a criminal makes you just as bad. And an Auror who betrays their duty to do this is even worse, it makes them a traitor. I can't stand traitors."

"He was an Auror, he fought the bad guys," Scorpius protested incredulously.

"Not if they were his brother," Cistro sneered and drew her wand, seemingly from nowhere until Scorpius noticed a wand holster he hadn't noticed prior, "Now spread your legs and hold out your arms."

"Fine but you know you're wrong," Scorpius stated defensively as he complied with the foolish position, Cistro used some nonverbal spell to make her wand light up and started to run it over his arms, "Professor Ashain fought his own brother and thought he killed him in the first war."

"But he didn't. Rather suspicious, don't you think?" Cistro commented and deliberately ran the wand around his head without warning him to shut his eyes against the glaring light, she paused to empty his pockets and throw the contents into the dirt, "And now here Brutus is, the right hand man of the Shadow Master. If you can call the deformed freak of nature a man, he's a monster."

"He believed Brutus was dead, I'm sure of it. I've seen how he was," Scorpius insisted, recalling how the professor had spoken of it in his First Year and how he'd reacted to seeing Brutus alive. He jolted as Cistro moved her wand down, feeling incredibly uncomfortable how close it was.

"People lie, it's just an act. He knew, I _know_ knew," Cistro stated darkly as she seemingly finished and stepped back, taking his wand from him as he did so, "Take off your jacket, I think the thick leather might be interfering with the process."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Do it. Or I'll take you back to Hogwarts to be interrogated, strip searched and your dormitory belongings looked through with a fine toothed comb," Cistro threatened and Scorpius reluctantly took off his jacket that she threw into the dirt, he gritted his teeth and returned to his position as she did the same again, "Enemies don't actively help each other the way the Ashains have on numerous occasions."

"The Shadows hurt his son, he's not one of them," Scorpius insisted and jolted again as Cistro moved her wand lower, "They're still brothers even if they're enemies, that's all."

"The Shadows let his son live, he is one of them. They're brothers in arms against the world not each other, Atticus Ashain is a traitor and you're a fool if you don't believe that, Scorpius Malfoy," Cistro told him seriously as she stepped back, deliberately stepping on his jacket, "He belongs in New Azkaban. His kids too, rotten little psychotic brats that they are and his head case of a father. And that new Alchemy professor, he looks like an Ashain."

"Are you done?" Scorpius questioned and Cistro reluctantly handed him back his wand.

"You're clear to pass," Cistro confirmed and Scorpius had to pick his things up off the ground, she didn't step off his jacket.

"Would you mind?" Scorpius asked through gritted teeth Cistro wordlessly walked across it to get off it, Scorpius picked it up and tried to brush the dirt off as they moved past her, "Cassia's right, she's a bitch."

"Are Aurors really allowed to treat people that way?" Michael wondered, looking outraged.

"I can kill her if you want," Maurice offered, sounding quite serious and Scorpius was quite sure he was.

"No," Scorpius shook his head and stopped to make sure Maurice was clear on what he was saying, "You can't go around killing people just because they're not nice."

"Hog's Head?" Michael asked and Scorpius inclined his head in agreement.

They started to head off there and Scorpius got his first good look at Hogsmeade, he'd been completely distracted before by Cistro. It was… different. The cobbled streets remained but the houses were mostly poorly constructed hovels, it improved into the town itself as the shops had been rebuilt more or less to their former glory.

"Why did they rebuild the shops properly but not the houses?" Scorpius wondered aloud as they entered the familiar pub that he favored over the crowded Three Broomsticks, it seemed more or less the same thankfully.

"Money," Aberforth the old, bearded bartender cleaning a glass offered in answer and the two approached the bar while Maurice scuttled away with a comment about getting a table, "The Ministry put a lot of money into helping rebuild Hogsmeade after the werewolf army, they don't have enough to help again so soon. Commercial places like shops or pubs make a lot of money so it's more economically viable, they got the gold while regular folk have to struggle alone because they can't afford it, most people are already in debt from the last time. People are lucky to have anything at all, there's more homeless than ever. The Aurors chased them out just now though, want to make it all pretty for the students."

"That's awful," Scorpius admitted, feeling horrible once more to think of how he lived in a lavish mansion while these people were in such hard ties.

"A Fire whiskey and two Butterbeers please," Michael said and Scorpius snapped back to reality immediately in shock, he caught Michael's eye, "What? This isn't Hogwarts."

"Hey!" Scorpius snapped at Aberforth who had actually gotten two bottles of Butterbeer and was getting the Fire whiskey ready, someone else entered as he was speaking, "He's only sixteen, he's not old enough for you to sell him Fire whiskey."

"He's sixteen?" Aberforth wondered in surprise, jerking his head at Michael.

"Yes!"

"No," Michael lied at the same time as Scorpius spoke the truth.

"He's birthday's the last day of August, he's a Sixth Year like me," Scorpius elaborated and Michael threw him a dark look, Aberforth looked between them and seemed to realize who was telling the truth.

"No Fire whiskey for you then, kid," Aberforth decided firmly and Michael threw up his arms frustratedly, "And if you try another stunt like that then you won't be welcome to Fire whiskey here even when you do come of age."

"I'll take it," the newcomer offered eagerly.

Scorpius was surprised to see he recognized him, he thought he was the same drunk from the last year who he'd figured out about Michael's drinking from observing. He was tall but very thin and dressed in tattered, torn robes – Scorpius was sure they were the same as last year – with filthy scraggly hair and beard, it was mattered with dirt with twigs and bits of moss stuck to it as well as his robes. His face was scarred as were his hands, wrists and what he could see of his arms, he also looked like he'd been beaten and the bruises also made it harder to deduce his age. One of his eyes were swollen shut and the other was bloodshot, he reeked of alcohol and body odor, he also oddly had no fingernails. He dropped some money onto the counter, Aberforth snatched it up but didn't give him the drink he'd requested.

"Come on," the man pleaded, "That's more than enough."

"You owe me way more than that, Lamb," Aberforth protested, "I told you, I'm not serving you again until you pay off your debt."

"That's a start!" Lamb whined desperately, looking on the verge of tears.

Scorpius threw Michael a dark look and jerked his head at Lamb, trying to silently ask him if that was what he wanted to end up like with his drinking but Michael wasn't looking at him. Aberforth shook his head and went to put away the door, Lamb lunged for it and there was a bang as Aberforth was apparently fast to the draw. Lamb was blasted across the room and slammed into the wall, he whimpered in pain like a wounded animal.

"Take that, you worthless dog!" one of the other patrons spat and Lamb fled.

"I'm going to make sure he's okay," Michael told Scorpius quickly before running after him.

"Michael-" Scorpius tried to protest but his friend was already gone, he sighed and turned back to Aberforth to pay for the drinks, "Make that three Butterbeers."

* * *

_Xerxes was not having a good time of things in the wake of Edythe's death, he missed her and he'd just gotten used to having home cooked meals again too and now they were gone. He also had Ethan who he was a single father to, he didn't have someone to share the responsibility as he hoped. He had to start having his lessons in his own home so he could be there for the baby, he couldn't afford a baby sitter when he had to keep giving money to Maeghan. Xerxes wondered how people did it without a break, he knew from Stephan babies kept you up but he also would get a break from him and time to catch up on his sleep when Senna took him. This was not a luxury he had with Ethan, which had the unfortunate knock on effect of interfering with his teaching because he needed to be focused. It also affected his romantic life, he couldn't go out looking for women with Ethan there and he tended to be too tired more often than not. The only women he saw were clients, Maeghan and once Senna when he had Stephan._

_"Look, Stephan, this is your new baby brother. His name is Ethan," Xerxes introduced the toddler excitedly, the little boy crinkled his nose as if in disgust as he peered over the edge of the crib. Without warning, Stephan hawked and spat right onto Ethan's face. _

_"Don't like it!" Stephan moaned as Ethan started crying, Xerxes slapped Stephan angrily as his father had occasionally done and the older boy blinked in shock._

_"You will be nice to your brother, Stephan! He's your blood, your family not some random old man crossing the street. You be nice to your brother, do you understand?!"_

_Stephan nodded mutely, still looking surprised as Xerxes tended to Ethan and gave Stephan a quick hug to show he still loved him too. As a blessing, Ethan was actually a much easier baby then Stephan, he was much less fussy and easier to care for comparatively. Xerxes was extremely grateful, especially considering he had a third on the way. He took him to Edythe's grave on her birthday and told him of her despite the fact he was too young to understand yet, it seemed a start on honoring her. He wanted Ethan to know of her, after all he knew nothing of his mother after she'd left and didn't want his kids to feel cut off like that. It got him thinking a lot about his mother, she could be dead for all he knew and despite his resentment for her, he would like to find her because she'd always be his mother albeit a terrible one. He would start looking for her again, when Ethan was slightly older and he had time of course. It was the end March when he received an owl, informing him of Maeghan being in labor at St Mungo's and he went to go be there like he hadn't been for Edythe._

_"She doesn't want you in there," the Healer told him with a disinterested shrug, "She says she doesn't like you and you can wait outside."_

_"But it's my child," Xerxes protested._

_"It's hers too and currently her wishes are slightly more important so if you could please wait outside, we'll inform you when the child is born and you can see it."_

_Xerxes was forced to abide by the idiot Healer's rules and wait with Ethan, who as sleeping peacefully. And he waited. And he waited. And then he waited some more. Eventually he had to leave because Ethan was starving and he also had to cancel some classes, the child still hadn't been born when he returned. Bitterly, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that Ethan had been so quickly when he'd been gone just a few hours while an entire day later and Maeghan still hadn't had her baby yet. If they had been reversed then Edythe would still be alive. Finally though, the Healer did return and he was allowed in to meet his son. He was quite disappointed, he already had two sons and would really like a daughter for a change, Viola. He was also quite surprised when he saw the baby Maeghan held, he was a big baby. Ethan had been small for his age, Stephan average and this boy was large for his age._

_"I blame you," Maeghan commented immediately, looking just as disappointed as he did, "He's a fat, ugly lump. I thought babies were supposed to be cute and cuddly?"_

_"He has just been born, give him a break," Xerxes protested in defense of his son, the boy's beady eyes were surveying them sleepily, "Look, Ethan, that's your new baby brother."_

_"Ethan? That's a stupid name."_

_"I know but it's the name the mother wanted."_

_"Well don't let him drool on my baby," Maeghan insisted and Xerxes shifted his position, wiping Ethan's mouth as he did so._

_"Have you thought of any names?" Xerxes wondered, partly to change the subject and partly because he did want a name for his child._

_"I was going to call him Matthew."_

_"Matthew. Not too bad."_

_"But now he's been born, I'm calling him Carver since I feel like he carved his way out of me. Matthew can be his middle name."_

_"That's a stupid reason to name him!" Xerxes protested irritably and Maeghan shrugged._

_"WELL TOUGH! WHEN SOMETHING CARVES ITS WAY OUT OF YOU THEN YOU CAN NAME IT WHAT YOU WANT BUT I WANT TO CALL HIM CARVER SO I'M GOING TO BLOODY CALL HIM CARVER!" Maeghan screamed at him and the apparently named Carver immediately burst out crying at the disruptive noise, "WELL GREAT, NOW YOU'VE GONE AND WOKEN HIM UP! SHUT UP, CARVER!"_

_"You can't tell a baby to shut up, they don't understand English," Xerxes pointed out and Maeghan actually looked very surprised at this, "This can't be news to you?"_

_"I knew they didn't talk but I thought they could understand it surely, does Carver have brain damage? How are you supposed to get them to stop crying if they don't understand when you tell them to stop?" Maeghan wondered curiously, looking genuinely concerned. Xerxes pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed, suddenly he missed single fatherhood._

* * *

Scorpius joined Maurice at the table he'd selected with the three Butterbeers, one for Michael when he got back. He sipped his drink and felt the warmth of the brew filling him, it was a nice feeling. It felt strange to be drinking it without Molly though, he said as much to Maurice and the deaf boy looked at him quite coldly.

"Scorpius, my girlfriend is dead," Maurice pointed out, "Molly may not be here right now but she's currently living. Be glad."

"I'm sorry," Scorpius muttered, averting his eyes and feeling quite foolish.

"Why do you like this place?"

"Molly liked it. It's less crowded and quiet, I like that."

"I'm deaf so everywhere is silent to me," Maurice said as he sipped his drink, "I see your point though. My experience with hearing was not pleasant, I don't know how you people stand it. I like the silence."

"I guess we're just used to it. It'd be as strange for me to suddenly go deaf as it is for you to hear."

"True enough," Maurice nodded and the conversation actually went silent, Michael still hadn't returned.

"So how are things with you and Orous?" Scorpius asked to break the silence as much as anything, "He doesn't seem to talk to you much these days."

"I know, it's strange," Maurice agreed, his neutral expression showing a hint of worry, "He's been like this since he got better, it's like he avoids me and avoids talking to me then if he has to then he keeps conversation minimal and leaves as much as possible. At first I thought it was just because he was recovering but now I don't know, it was awful all summer."

"Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"No. Why would I have done that?" Maurice questioned, sounding as if he didn't know.

"Because if you don't talk to him then you won't find out what's wrong and be able to move past it," Scorpius pointed out and Maurice nodded slowly in understanding before going quiet again, "You don't seem as obsessed with war these days."

"Just because I don't talk about it constantly, it doesn't mean I don't think about it. Although Lenore did teach me there's more to life than just being a soldier," Maurice answered and shifted his position slightly, "I just don't feel like talking as much, all you people do is tell me to shut up about it anyway. Especially you. I'm trying to figure out who's trying to murder you and you're obsessed over a teacher, I think Rojer would actually find it quite disturbing."

"I can't help it, I feel so terrible," Scorpius admitted guiltily in a whisper, "I liked Ashylos, he was a good man, he was a hero. But he's dead now, deader than the dead. Because of me. And then his last child who he worried for walks into my life to save mine, I punched him in the face. How am I supposed to move past it?"

"Have you tried talking to him about it? Take your own advice."

"I can't just tell him that!"

"You can," Maurice insisted and looked as if he had an epiphany, "And you will. You have a week to talk to Rojer or I will."

"You can't be serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Maurice said seriously and Scorpius could only gape in surprise, "You need to get your head back in the game, not obsessed and focused on this. You talk to him in a week or I will talk to him for you."

"I'm not going to let you do that," Scorpius scoffed and Maurice gave him a cold smile.

"Good luck stopping me."

Scorpius spent the better part of the day trying to convince Maurice otherwise but the deaf soldier seemed quite determined to stick to his ultimatum, he'd almost forgotten that Michael was supposed to return until their friend joined them. Not Michael though but Albus, who slumped into his seat and helped himself to the cold Butterbeer that had originally been for Michael. Where was he anyway?

"Don't you have a date?" Maurice wondered of Albus curiously.

"Grozda wanted to meet up with some friends and do some shopping as well so she cut it short," Albus explained and looked somewhat concerned, "You don't think Abby's right, do you? About Grozda not liking me as much? I told her I loved her, she just smiled and said 'aww I think you're great too' then kissed me and asked if I'd mind if she left early to meet her friends to do some shopping. So I figured since the others are on dates, I'd come hang with you guys and squeeze some more Hogsmeade time in"

"She is from another country, maybe it's a cultural thing."

"Yeah, a cultural thing," Albus repeated, looking more optimistic, "That could be it."

"Maybe," Scorpius muttered, in truth he really didn't know, "You didn't happen to see Michael out there, did you? He ran off to make sure some drunk was okay and we haven't seen him since."

"Nope. Didn't see him," Albus shook his head before snapping his fingers as something seemed to occur to him, "But you know who I did see, strangely?"

"No."

"His sister. The one with half her face all clawed and nasty."

"Her name is Agnes," Scorpius provided and Albus nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, her. I saw her. And even weirder was that she was with Lenore's uncle, the Death Eater guy."

"His name is John," Maurice offered, looking puzzled, "Are you sure it was him?"

"It looked like him, he had a scar on his face though."

"John didn't have a scar on his face the last time I saw him."

"Well he does now," Albus scoffed as he sipped Michael's cold Butterbeer.

"Well are you sure it was Agnes?" Scorpius wondered, "She's a muggle and a child, why would she even be in Hogsmeade."

"Oh yeah, she waved," Albus pointed out and Scorpius scowled in confusion.

"What would Michael's muggle half-sister be doing with Lenore's Death Eater uncle?"

"I don't know, that's why I thought it was worth mentioning. It's such a weird combination."

"Maybe it's not them and just people using Polyjuice?" Maurice offered, earning looks from the both of them.

"Who would even want to _pretend _to be Michael's muggle half-sister hanging out with Lenore's Death Eater uncle?"

"Fair point. It is rather odd, unless you were mistaken."

Scorpius wondered if the bizarre occurrence had anything to do with the fact they'd had to fake their deaths, he wasn't sure how John would be involved though. Although to be fair, he didn't know much about either of them. He'd have liked to inform Michael of it and ask his opinion, too bad his friend was nowhere to be found. They didn't actually see him until they left to go look for him, he was staggering over to them and grinned when he saw them.

"H'Was just going looking for you guys," Michael greeted them with a heavy slur to his words, Scorpius felt immediately angry.

"Michael, are you drunk?" Scorpius demanded and Michael nodded without hesitation, "You s-"

"Hey, I don't have any on me," Michael pointed out, opening his arms as if to show them there was nothing, "Y'll only get in trouble if you have it on you and I don't, they can't punish _you_ for me for that so it's good. We drunk it already."

"Michael-"

"Don't yell at him," Albus interrupted, looking bitterly disappointed while Michael nearly fell as he took a step back and gave a lopsided grin.

"I's don't mind," Michael told them, holding out his arms again and nearly tripping over his own feet, "Yells if you want, I'm okay."

"He's drunk, he's not going to register what you're saying. Yell at him later, we can take it in turns."

"_Imperio_," Maurice cast on Michael, shocking them both while the deaf boy just shrugged as he pocketed his wand while Michael immediately stood normally, "Unless you two have a better idea on how to get him past the Auror guarding the gates who has it out for Scorpius."

"Fine," Scorpius agreed through gritted teeth and started off at a fast pace, wanting to get back as soon as possible, "Don't wait for me to be searched if she does it again, just go."

"Okay."

"And don't use Dark Magic so casually."

"Especially not Unforgiveables," Albus hissed, if Maurice was listening then Scorpius knew he wouldn't care, "So what about this Auror?"

Scorpius filled Albus in about their entrance as they walked, it helped take his mind of his anger at Michael for getting drunk, Maurice for using the Imperius Curse and giving the ultimatum and himself for letting it happen. He was also saddened as he passed Myriam Leebin going back into her house in the way out, it was one of the hovels. Did his mother know her closest friend was living in a one-story, lopsided piece of crap that looked like something a young child had drawn? He would've said hello but she didn't see him and had already gone in by the time he reached her, it only made him feel guiltier. He could just destroy the souls of heroes and go back to his lavish mansion because he was a Malfoy while others struggled.

Cistro was still guarding the gate and let his friends go by but Scorpius was again subject to search, this time they didn't wait for him as he'd said and had the foresight to take of his precious leather jacket beforehand to try put it down on a cleaner bit of ground. He trudged back to the castle still unhappily, Maurice had taken the curse off Michael and he was now drunkenly rambling when Scorpius came in. What was he going to do about Michael's drinking? He sighed heavily before being distracted by an ear-splitting screech, Scorpius grabbed Maurice – who hadn't heard it and seemed quite oblivious – to drag him to investigate. They were still screaming, it was coming from one of the dormitories in the Fourth Year. Lysander. They burst in and sure enough, Lysander was the one in peril.

He seemed to be sinking into his bed, the bedding suddenly looked like it was made of liquid or sinking sand and Lysander was drowning in it to the point only his head and hand remained visible. Some of the others from his year were trying to pull him out but stopped as it just made him sink faster, Scorpius whipped out his wand and tried levitating him out but it had no effect. Maurice was weaving a complicated motion with his, abruptly there was a boing sound and Lysander was thrown from the four poster which suddenly seemed to solidify. The blond was spewed out onto the ground, covered in scarlet and gold ooze like the bedcover and gasping for breath. The first time hadn't just been a fluke, someone was definitely trying to kill Lysander. He couldn't ignore it.

* * *

**Part 3: **Final Masquerade

* * *

"Sleep well?" Scorpius demanded of Michael as loudly and deliberately close to his ear as possible the next morning when everyone else had gone to breakfast, he startled awake with a start and cringed.

"I was until you yelled in my ear," Michael mumbled into his pillow while Scorpius tore open the curtains, making him cringe even more at the flood of light, "You're not mad about the drinking are you?"

"Of course I'm mad about the drinking!" Scorpius exploded at him, "You ditch us to go get wasted, don't you know how much trouble you could've be in?!"

"I didn't mean to ditch you," Michael insisted, his voice sounding hoarse, "I went outside to see if that guy was okay and he begged me for alcohol, I said I couldn't because I'm under age so he suggested I give him the money and he could buy it. I-I couldn't say no to that, it's been forever since I had a drink."

"It's been less than two months!"

"Well it feels like longer, besides I didn't bring any back with me so you couldn't get in trouble."

"_You_ could've still gotten in trouble for being drunk! We had to go straight by that Auror who hates me because I know Professor Ashain, I wouldn't have put it past her to crucify you just for knowing me."

"My worry was never for myself," Michael pointed out as he buried his face into his pillow with a groan, "I feel like crap. That Fire whiskey really has a kick so could you please stop yelling so much?"

"Well it serves you right for drinking it!" Scorpius yelled at him loudly and yanked away the blankets, "What were you thinking?! And you went off with that random guy, he could've been a Shadow! Someone has tried to kill me and Lysander twice now, _you_ could be next!"

"_Now _you care about that?" Michael wondered as he groggily sat up, letting his head drop back into his hands as he groaned again, "And that guy's not a Shadow. He's a werewolf, he was turned in Hogsmeade like I was when he was trying to protect his wife and baby daughter. After he turned, his wife died trying to protect the baby from_ him _while still not wanting to hurt him. He killed his own wife, she died horribly at his own claws and jaws because she was unwilling to hurt him."

"You drank with him because you felt bad for him?!"

"No, he only told me after," Michael stated as he stood, he looked like crap, "I just want you to remind Albus about that next time he tells me to date."

"You-"

Scorpius was cut off mid-sentence as Michael bolted for the bathroom, he followed in time to hear the sound of Michael retching. He patiently waited for Michael to finish and come back over to clean himself up, he leaned in the doorway scowling disapprovingly and folded his arms.

"You have a problem, you know?" Scorpius pointed out, trying to be calmer.

"I have a lot of problems, Scorpius," Michael said tiredly as he splashed water on his face, he sighed as he looked into the mirror, "I don't even recognize myself anymore."

"The drinking isn't helping."

"It's helping me," Michael insisted and turned back to him, "What do you want from me, Scorpius? An apology? I'm sorry I left you to go drinking. But I'm not sorry I'm drinking and I don't intend to stop, I won't drink inside Hogwarts to avoid what happened with Rutherford but outside is fair game. If you don't like it then tough."

"It's not helping you, Michael, you may feel like it is but it's not. You-"

"Wait, did you say two attempts on Lysander?" Michael interrupted, seeming to only now be registering what Scorpius had said earlier.

"Yes, you missed it when you were drunk but his bed tried to drown him or something," Scorpius informed him testily and Michael looked concerned, "See what you miss out on when you're drinking?"

"At least I'm not missing out on it because I'm obsessing over Rojer," Michael countered and Scorpius tried not to look embarrassed as he kept the subject on track.

"It narrows it down though, it had to be someone who didn't go to Hogsmeade so almost certainly a First or Second Year unless an older student stayed."

"Martha."

"Lysander is a Gryffindor and it happened in his dormitory, only a Gryffindor would know the password and Martha is a Hufflepuff so it couldn't be her," Scorpius pointed out and Michael ran his hand through his already tangled mane of hair, making it worse, "What the hell do you even have against this poor girl?"

"Well I don't know then, thinking is hard right now."

"I'm not surprised. And stop trying to change the subject!"

"What is the subject?" Michael wondered in confusion, cringing at the raised volume again and Scorpius threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Your drinking!"

"Are you still on that?" Michael complained and rubbed his head as if it pained him, "I think I've said all I wanted to say on the matter, unless you have anything to add."

"Sometimes you're the bravest, kindest and most self-less person I know," Scorpius told him in irritation, "And sometimes you're the most hypocritical, self-centered jackass."

Scorpius stalked off without another word, feeling quite frustrated. For someone good at helping people, Michael was terrible at letting people help him. Or maybe Scorpius was just bad at helping people, he tended to do more harm than good despite his best efforts. He was in a bad mood for the rest of the weekend, he couldn't even throw himself into his animagi training because he was doing it for Michael and he was mad at him. He did finally 'ring' Varanian to fill him in about the murder attempts, using the communicating portkey rings. Varanian's response was much like Scorpius would've expected: 'why didn't you tell me sooner?' Scorpius could only apologize in response. Varanian also seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Maurice but he did contribute something new.

'Only thing I can think of in common is wrists,' Varanian's words appeared on the ring, 'The scars the Shadows gave you both.'

"Then why only two out of five?" Scorpius questioned, pressing the wand tip to the ring so his words would appear on Varanian's ring.

'Maybe they're going one at a time. Could be wrong though, just a thought. Be careful.'

Scorpius thought that was fair enough and in Hogwarts itself they were taking steps to protect the very frightened Lysander, Maurice magically scanned his dormitory when Lysander was going to bed and they made sure he was never alone. Maurice stayed with him during all his free time and in classes Lorcan, Lily, Hugo and August made sure to stay with him and keep an eye out. At night, Maurice would put a protective enchantment on the door and Scorpius was supposed to check to make sure Lysander was okay before he went to sleep as he stayed up late at night for his training. Plus, Scorpius could hear which was useful in dark of night. The darkness was increasing as winter drew closer, October shifting to November that very week.

If Scorpius had thought Maurice would forget about his ultimatum because he was busy with his new duty to protect Lysander, he was wrong. Every mealtime after Alchemy that week, Maurice would ask him if he'd told Rojer yet. He hadn't, he hadn't even tried. It had seemed the best and only solution at the time but when he tried to put it into words, 'I destroyed your father's soul to save my friend and stop the bad guys getting this scepter' it didn't sound so good. Was there any good way to put that? And what would Rojer say? Would he just yell or would he attack him? Would he try to kill him? He had killed before after all and Scorpius wouldn't blame him for being upset, he was upset with himself after all. Would he throw him out of the class? Would he lose his opportunity to learn about soul?

"H-Hey," a young offered, jolting Scorpius in surprise as he was in his dormitory having just gotten changed to go to a Quidditch practice. He spun to see Antonius Ashain standing restlessly in the doorway, fiddling with his hands with his dog by his side.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius wondered in shock and Antonius looked quite put down.

"I erm… th-thought maybe we could hang out or something…? I-If you'd like," Antonius stammered out nervously, "I haven't seen much of you this year. And you shouldn't really be alone with people trying to kill you out there."

"Well sorry, little buddy but we got Quidditch practice just now," Albus pointed out and patted the boy's head affectionately, "You can watch though if you'd like."

"He means _how_ did you get in here?" Michael spoke up, "You need the password."

"Oh, I just asked my Dad," Antonius explained as if it were obvious, "The staff know all the different house passwords."

"Maybe some other time but we really need to get out onto the pitch now," Scorpius offered gently and Antonius nodded in understanding before trudging away with Hope while the trio headed down to the pitch, his head hung almost in disappointment.

"Isn't that interesting about the professors?" Michael commented as they walked, "It widens our search pool for assassins."

"You think one of the professors is trying to kill me?"

"No, I think Martha is trying to kill you."

"Err… Martha isn't a professor," Albus pointed out in confusion, Michael rolled his eyes.

"No but Koray is and he happens to have two kids in Hogwarts, the younger of which happens to be friends with Martha," Michael explained, "She could've asked the Koray girl to ask her father for the password to get into Gryffindor Tower, she is back on the suspect list."

"Just because Professor Ashain told Antonius, it doesn't mean Professor Koray would tell his kids as well," Scorpius protested defensively, "For all we know, he wouldn't be so free with the passwords."

"And for all we know he _is_ free with the passwords. We should ask one of the Koray kids."

Scorpius supposed it was a possibility although he still didn't believe Martha was the assassin, she didn't seem suspicious to him and in truth he just felt bad for her, besides she'd been a white soul when he'd looked with the Eye of the Thestral potion. He tried to push it out of his mind for the practice, being a good Captain was still important. Martha was watching again and as usual, stayed behind to help him and Michael with the equipment.

"You still friends with the Koray girl?" Michael demanded of her, almost accusatory making the small girl jump and nearly drop the bats she'd been carrying.

"Yeah, Auriga is my best friend," Martha admitted and Michael nodded, continuing to glare at her darkly and her delicate freckled face wrinkled in worry, "Why? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, he's just grouchy because of the full moon next week," Scorpius interjected and Martha glanced back to him with her cloudy gray eyes, quickly averting them and blushing slightly as they continued carrying the equipment.

"Okay. I'm sorry, it must be tough being a werewolf," Martha nodded and turned her attention back to Michael, he gave an indistinguishable grunt as a reply, "Do you really have to take Wolfsbane to stay sane during the transformation?"

"Yes," Michael answered in a growl, "Every day for a week up to the full moon."

"What does it taste like?" Martha wondered curiously and Michael's look was practically murderous.

"Disgusting."

"I'm sorry," Martha offered apologetically, earning only another dark look from Michael.

Scorpius made a mental note to snap at him for being so mean to her later and did so as soon as they parted ways even, Michael could only shrug disinterested and reiterate he thought she was suspicious. The week came to a close and his Friday ended with Alchemy, the last class of the week and his last class with Rojer where he was supposed to tell him about Ashylos. He stayed behind as usual to help pack up the equipment, remind him oddly of Martha. Was it really that suspicious she stayed behind to help when he did the exact same with Rojer?

He chickened out yet again and left Rojer still obliviously, wondering if he could get away with lying to Maurice that he'd told Rojer. Considering he'd undoubtedly ask about the reaction and Scorpius could only envision bad ones, he thought not. He was so anxious about it that night he barely slept, he had to tell him or Maurice would. He actually seriously considered letting Maurice just tell him which made him realize just how much he did need to tell him, Rojer should hear it from him.

And so after lunch, he checked to make sure Rojer was in his tower – it was a Saturday after all, staff had more freedom – before heading up the steps to check on him. Scorpius was so used to just walking in that he didn't knock despite the fact it wasn't a class, not thinking. Rojer was sitting at the front as usual, working on a massive building structure made entirely out of dice. His eyes drifted to Scorpius as he entered though, his usual grim expression still in place rather than any kind of surprise.

"There is no class," Rojer pointed out as his eyes drifted back to his building, continuing his construction, "There is never class on this day."

"I know," Scorpius admitted, feeling his heart pounding anxiously. He decided he'd try to ease into it, "Why erm… Why do you make those buildings out of random things?"

"Because I like to keep my hands busy, I say this before," Rojer stated dismissively, "Normally I would do Alchemy but it is better to do when more awake, by the time I do this I am usually awake."

"Why always buildings?"

"They are the most big."

"Have you had lunch?"

"Your lunch is my break-fast," Rojer shrugged as he leaned back to give him his attention, waving his wand and vanishing the dice structure, "Do not stall, what did you want?"

"Me? I erm… Nothing," Scorpius stammered out awkwardly.

"Then buh-bye. Come back when this is class," Rojer told him with a dismissive wave, not looking convinced but Scorpius didn't think he cared and probably just wanted his weekend of peace. Scorpius left and found Maurice waiting at the bottom of the stairs, he felt an odd surge of anger.

"Look, Maurice, I _am_ going to tell him but in my own time not yours," Scorpius blurted out irritably, trying to keep his voice low so Rojer wouldn't hear and with Maurice's deafness volume was irrelevant, "It's not something you just blurt out, maybe soldiers do it that way but people don't. You're going to give me until the Christmas break and if I haven't told him by then, I'll walk you to the Alchemy Tower myself. Got it?"

"Got it," Maurice said quietly and reluctantly before turning and walking away, much to Scorpius' relief.

Thankfully, Maurice seemed content with this for whatever reason and Scorpius felt more at ease as the first full week of November began. He actually got a chance to talk to one of the Korays sooner rather than later as he spotted Pollux Koray struggling up the Grand Staircase when he was taking the weakened Michael to the Hospital Wing ready for the full moon, he was moving at a snail's pace and clutching the bannister. Scorpius felt quite bad for him, he was already breathing heavily. He silently cursed James for damaging his lungs.

"See that?" Scorpius wondered of his friend and Michael nodded weakly, he was leaning on him for support as they approached him, "Hey Pol."

"Hey… Scorpius and… Michael," Pollux greeted them in between breaths, Scorpius wasn't sure if it was because of his labored breathing or from struggling to remember their names.

"How are you doing?"

"Great, I love struggling to breathe… all the girls are really into it," Pollux offered sarcastically as the three of them moved up slowly, "Your friend okay?"

"Just weak from the full moon," Michael pointed out tiredly, "Wolfsbane tastes worse every month."

"Least Wolfsbane works, stuff that's supposed to help me breathe… Well, it tastes like swallowing rusted nails and you can see how brill… brilliantly it works."

"We actually wanted to ask you something," Scorpius spoke up and Pollux shrugged.

"Shoot. I'm not going anywhere quickly."

"Do you think your Father would give you or Auriga the password to other common rooms if you asked?"

"Yep," Pollux agreed without hesitation, "He's done it before when I wanted… to talk to Byron. I'm not telling you though if that's… what you're driving at."

"It's not."

"Told you," Michael pointed out triumphantly, trying to smile but it was weak. He also apparently didn't think to not say anything in front of the Ravenclaw, although the attempts on his Lysander's lives were common knowledge, "It could still be Martha trying to kill you."

"Martha is not trying to kill him," Pollux scoffed as if it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Haven't you… noticed she watches most of your Quidditch… practices?"

"That's why he thinks she's so suspicious," Scorpius admitted and Pollux shook his head.

"Wrong."

"Why does she go to the practices then?" Michael wondered and Pollux actually stopped to glance at them for a minute, looking torn, "What is it?"

"Promise you won't say anything?" Pollux pleaded with a heavy sigh, "I said… I said I wouldn't but if it's the only way you'll stop thinking she's a murderer…"

"We won't say anything," Scorpius assured him seriously and Pollux nodded slowly, looking around as if to make sure they were alone for a second before continuing.

"She has a major crush on you."

"Me?" Scorpius questioned in shock and Pollux nodded in confirmation, "Why would she have a crush on me?"

"I don't know, I'm not a girl," Pollux shrugged as he started climbing again, while Scorpius was still left feeling stumped, "See you, I have to keep… moving if I want to get to bed before the… dawn."

"Thanks," Scorpius added absentmindedly, turning to Michael, "See? I told you, just a poor girl with a weird crush."

"She could be lying about it," Michael protested as they also started walking again, "Maybe that's why she switched to trying to kill Lysander."

"Why lie about something embarrassingly personal like that?"

"Because people wouldn't think she would lie about it," Michael insisted and Scorpius rolled his eyes incredulously, "I'm sorry. I just have a bad feeling about her, okay?"

Scorpius left Michael in the Hospital Wing, feeling even more certain that Martha wasn't the one trying to kill them. And also somewhat awkward knowing an eleven year old had a crush on him, hopefully it would wear off. He went back to vigorously practicing his animagi training, desperately – and maybe delusionally – hoping to master it before Michael's transformation. No luck though. He was exhausted from pushing himself so hard practicing for the full moon so decided to call it a night earlier than usual although still later than the rest of his dormitory, when he felt the spell to keep his mind intact starting to fade he packed it in. First, he just had his obligation to check on Lysander. So far, he'd noticed nothing but this time he saw the boy creeping out of his room.

"Where are you going?" Scorpius hissed at him and Lysander jolted in surprise before relaxing when he saw him, putting a hand to his heart.

"Oh it's just you, just the person I wanted to see in fact," Lysander offered before grinning and waving a piece of paper at him, "Guess what?"

"More like, what are you doing out of bed? And don't say the bathroom because you get to them from your dormitory not this way."

"I got a secret admirer," Lysander explained and waved the paper more vigorously, "She wants me to meet her tonight and obviously not here. It's so exciting, my first lover's tryst."

"Lysander, someone is trying to _kill_ you," Scorpius pointed out in disbelief.

"All the more reason to live and love as much as possible."

"No, Lysander, can't you see this could be a trap?!" Scorpius insisted and Lysander looked at him quite blankly, apparently not having considered this, "They pretend to be an admirer to lure you away in the middle of the night so they can kill you."

"Oh no, I hadn't thought of that," Lysander admitted as his face fell, "Do you think my secret admirer knows?"

"I think there is no secret admirer!" Scorpius snapped and held out his hand, "Give me the note and go to bed, I'll check it out."

"No!" Lysander whined and yanked the note further away from him, "What if you're wrong and there _is_ a secret admirer? I can't just leave her hanging. I have to risk it."

"Are you mad?!"

"No, not mad. Excited and now kind of fearful but still willing to risk it," Lysander said and Scorpius almost slapped his hand to his face in frustration, Lysander had thought he meant angry-mad not insane-mad like any normal person would, "Besides, with my fairy guardian my side I'm feeling quite safe… You could always come with me if you want, if it's a trap then I'm the bait and you'll get them and if it's not then you can just leave us be."

"I'd rather just go alone," Scorpius moaned, feeling as if this was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"Well it's my secret admirer and my call, I want to do this my way and there's no time," Lysander insisted, "So what do you say?"

"Fine," Scorpius agreed through gritted teeth and Lysander grinned.

"Great then let's go before we're late!"

On that note, Lysander skipped – quite literally – off and Scorpius trudged after him. He actually hoped they would get caught just because it meant a definite end would be put to Lysander being at risk tonight, a stupid risk at that. They didn't run into anyone though unfortunately, just dark corridors and silent night. He was surprised to see the meeting room was an unused one quite close to the Hospital Wing, wasn't this person – admirer or assassin – concerned about Marigold and Michael hearing? It was the full moon, Marigold stayed up at least a little bit to stay with Michael. They went in to wait and a person stepped out from the shadows, Scorpius had his wand aimed in a second but froze in surprise. It was neither assassin nor admirer but rather a familiar teenage boy with bushy red hair, Hugo Weasley held up his hands as if to show he was innocent and not putting up a fight.

"Hugo? You're my secret admirer?" Lysander wondered, looking incredibly disappointed, "I'm sorry, I don't swing that way."

"What are you talking about?" Hugo asked in confusion, "Lorcan's the one with a secret admirer."

"Explain," Scorpius insisted, as confused as the younger boys.

"Lorcan got a letter from a secret admirer, he's not interested in daring right now but I thought it might hurt her feelings if he didn't show so he said I could go instead to let her down so here I am. What are you two doing here?"

"Lysander also got a letter from a secret admirer, he wanted to meet her but I thought it might be a trap so I came with him," Scorpius explained as he lowered his wand, "This is looking more like a trap."

"Or just someone screwing with us," Hugo offered as he looked around, "There's no assassin here either."

"Well, _this_ is rather disappointing," Lysander admitted before the three froze at the sound of footsteps.

Scorpius aimed his wand at the door before relaxing as he recognized the odd pacing off the steps, limping. A second later, he was proved correct as Rojer walked by with an empty plate in his hands, presumably carrying it back down to be washed since he ate separate. He paused to glance in at them, his expression not surprised or angered in the slightest.

"Does not Hogwarts have some kind of curfew?" Rojer wondered curiously.

"Err… Yeah," Scorpius admitted and Rojer nodded.

"I thought as much. If you do not wish to be caught, I suggest you speak quieter," Rojer commented disinterestedly and continued on without another word, his limping footsteps fading into the night before any of them spoke.

"What a strange but pleasant man," Lysander decided to himself before they froze again at another sound.

This time it wasn't because of Rojer's footsteps, or any footsteps. It was because there was a blood-curdling scream, a man's scream that sounded suspiciously like Marigold… Scorpius felt his heart start to pound, had something happened to Michael? Distantly, he realized he could hear sounds of a struggle, furniture smashing and glass being shattered. He was distracted by a deafening howl of a werewolf just as he started to move, it wasn't coming from the Hospital Wing but the room they were in.

They looked around in shock, wands being drawn and lit up immediately but there was no werewolf around causing the incessant howling. Hugo started pulling out drawers of abandoned desks shoved in the corner, finally pulling one out that only increased the volume. There was a box in it, Hugo threw it to the ground and stomped on it. The box shattered and the howling ceased immediately but Scorpius still suspected it was too late, something was very wrong here and there were better off away.

"We need to get out of here now," Scorpius told them and the other two nodded in unanimous agreement before starting to run for the door.

They slammed to a halt though as a hulking shape appeared in the doorway, a massive brownish-blond wolf that growled ferociously as it made its way in. The silver moonlight from the window sliding over it as it walked in, revealing it had one golden eye and one hazel along with the shiny crimson on the massive claws and matted into the fur. It was Michael. Except from the menacing growl, Scorpius didn't think it was Michael anymore and things start clicking into place. The assassin must've sabotaged Michael's Wolfsbane and set a trap to lure the Scamanders to their deaths, letting Michael kill them for him. He felt sickened and angry, how_ dare_ someone try to use his friend that way?! There was also a pang of fear, what the hell was he supposed to do against his friend the werewolf?

"Hey Michael!" Lysander called cheerfully, apparently not recognizing the danger, "It's so cool to see you in were-"

Michael lunged at Lysander, Scorpius threw himself at the younger boy to tackle him out of the way and narrowly made it, he was still close enough to see the shadow of Michael jumping over him. He yanked Lysander to his feet and pushed the shaking boy towards the door while Michael skidded to a halt in front of the wall.

"Go! Get help!" Scorpius yelled at him.

Lysander didn't need telling twice, he fled. And Michael launched after him, Scorpius conjured ropes to bind him and his friend yelped as the four furred legs were caught up in the rope. He skidded as he fell, sliding into the corner near the door.

"Let's go!" Scorpius snapped at Hugo, "While he's bound!"

"We can seal him in!" Hugo added excitedly while Michael tore at the ropes.

Michael gave a ferocious snarl and lunged, snapping the ropes and Scorpius recast the spell to tie them again which had him drop over Hugo and land at Scorpius' feet with a painful thud. Scorpius raised his wand to try transfiguring the rope to something more substantial but Michael batted at him with a paw already free, his wand shot from his grasp as Scorpius was thrown back violently. He hit the ground painfully and saw Michael was already growling as he got to his feet, his eyes skimmed desperately and he saw his wand had slid uselessly over to the other side of the room. Michael jumped at him.

"_Expulso!"_ Hugo screamed, apparently not keen on leaving Scorpius as he jabbed his wand at Michael with a panicked apologetic expression.

The spell missed, hitting the wall behind Scorpius instead. It blew a crater into the wall, the shockwave from the blast and the debris shooting out was still enough to waver Michael's course and knock him away from Scorpius. It was also enough to incur Michael's wrath, the werewolf snarled viciously and ran immediately at Hugo in a blur of bloody fur.

"_Expul_-"

"_NO!"_ Scorpius cried.

Hugo didn't even manage to finish the spell before Michael reached him, Scorpius was too far from his wand or Hugo to do anything other than watch as his thundered in panic. Michael's powerful jaws clamped down on Hugo's forearm, there was a sickening snap as the limb twisted and Hugo screamed in agony. Michael tossed the boy and Hugo was thrown like a rag doll through a side door, his wand still in hand though.

"Sever your arm!" Scorpius screamed at him as he scrambled to his feet to try reach his wand while his voice had Michael spin back to him, growling as Hugo's blood dripping off his teeth. He felt immense pity and guilt twist inside him at Hugo's choice of becoming an amputee or a werewolf, he couldn't help, "Sever your arm, Hugo, or you'll turn into a werewolf!"

Scorpius tried to run for his wand but Michael was faster, in the next instant he felt the weight of a werewolf landing on him and felt at least some of his ribs crack painfully. He gasped in pain and screamed as Michael's claws tore through his chest, he looked into his friend's mismatched eyes and Michael didn't look back.

For the first time in his life, Scorpius felt true fear for his own life because of his best friend. There was only thing in the world he could possibly do to save himself now, the spells were weak but still intact after all. It was now or never. He willed himself to change, to become an animagus.

A shimmering gray aura embraced Michael, Scorpius raised his arm to try protect himself as the wolfish jaws bit at him. He saw his own arm changing, thinning and lengthening as it contorted while Michael's teeth tore painfully into his elbow while the hand was compressed into a hoof. He tried to cry out in pain but a shrill and strange shriek came out from his enlarging throat instead, he could feel his body changing.

He felt as if he was being yanked and torn every which way internally, Michael backed off in surprise and he fell forwards onto the hooves that had once been his hands. His body was growing and compressing at the same time, his flesh being squished to a skeletal form but his body growing to larger than his human one. He felt a tail sprout, his hair grow into a long mane and as if the skin of his back was being ripped off again, stretching out and forming into large leathery wings. A minute later, a Thestral stood where a human had been.

Scorpius knew he had to have transformed completely or else the bite would've turned him into a werewolf instead. He could feel the stinging painfully, his arm- _leg_ now was shaking from his putting pressure on the injured limb. He had done it though, he _was_ an animagus. Michael growled at him and jumped at him once more, Scorpius tried to cry out – again emitting a shrill shriek instead – as he reared up instinctively and kicked back down on Michael with his front legs. Michael yelped and retreated back, blinking his eyes as if disoriented from being kicked in the head but still snarling.

He noticed a second aura behind Michael as he did so, coming from Rojer who he spotted standing in the doorway. He threw a vial at Michael and jabbed his wand as well, there was a blue explosion of light and then Michael was on the ground with a thick bluish translucent substance covering his limbs and the ground. He was struggling but whatever the stuff was, it was holding him strong. Scorpius stared down at him in sad shock as Rojer strode towards him, this was not how he'd intended on his first animagi transformation to go.

"You can turn back now," Rojer told him, rubbing his injured leg idly as if it pained him while Michael started barking, "It is done."

It occurred to Scorpius as he said this that he didn't know how to turn back, hadn't Wyatt said you usually snapped back after turning the first time? He… He didn't remember, it was hard to remember. Another thought sent a shiver down his soul, how long did he have before the spell to keep his human mind wore off?

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius stepped back painfully with his injured limb, trying to will himself to turn back but he could already feel his mind failing him, feel it all merging into mush as his heart started pounding in panic.

He blinked in surprise as his panic spread, he was injured, there was a werewolf barking on the ground and he was in a strange room. There was a human there, its lips were moving but the words were incomprehensible. He should really be getting out of there, he took another step back and the human raised a thin stick he knew to be a weapon.

A jet of light shot out but he lurched out of the way, he kicked wildly and thought he heard the human cry out but he ignored it as he jumped clean out of the window. It shattered loudly and he felt a few shards of glass slice him on the way out but it was nothing compared to escaping whatever kind of imprisonment he'd found himself in, he soared through the sky much to his delight as he enjoyed flying with the wind through his mane. He glided to the ground and galloped as fast as he could with his injured leg into the forest, his home.

* * *

**Part 4: **A Rude Awakening

* * *

He galloped through the dense woodland as fast as he could with his injured leg, his chest also hurt from his fight with the werewolf. He came to a halt only when he needed to catch his breath, the pain in his leg also continued to overwhelm him. He didn't even know where he was going, he shouldn't be running blindly. He should find water first and foremost, some others of his own kind would also be nice since he didn't recall who he was or how he'd gotten inside a castle in the first place.

'_Hello?_' he called out into the forest, the shrill shriek scaring off a flock of birds, '_Is there anyone out there?'_

No reply.

He shook himself off and sniffed the air, taking in the aroma of the forest to get a sense of his surroundings and pinpoint the location of the nearest body of water. He started off towards that, this time at a trot and an unfortunate limp due to his injured leg. He thought of flying but decided against it, he wanted the cover of the trees not to risk the werewolf seeing him again. Maybe at full-strength he'd do it but with his injuries, it wasn't smart to pick fights.

He found the stream easily and lowered his head to drink, lapping up the refreshing liquid and soothing his thirst. Now that he thought about it, he could also use a bite to eat. He heard a tweeting and turned his attention to the various birds that inhabited the trees, he simply waited for one to fly by and took off. He shot up, his injured leg not hindering his flight and he seized the small bird in his fangs before landing.

He felt it struggling against the teeth digging into its small, feathered body and bit down hard. There was a crunch as its little bones snapped and the thing went limp, dead. He lifted his head, ensuring gravity was on his side as he threw it slightly to get it more in his mouth before devouring the creature. It may have been small but it did have a little fat belly so he got some meat from it, not a lot but he had only wanted a snack anyway.

He'd need something more sizable for a proper meal, this could be an issue with his leg. Although once the full moon passed, he wouldn't have to worry about the werewolf so could have the advantage of flight again. Maybe it would work out after all. He took another drink from the stream to wash the bird down and caught sight of his dragon-like face, his eyes were a glittering gray rather than white which was quite odd. Was that why he'd been in the castle? Had he been expelled from his flock because his eyes were the wrong color? He wasn't sure and he had no way of knowing, he pushed it out of his mind for now though. Instead, he wandered over to a nearby tree because he figured he could use some rest.

He lay down and cringed at the pain in his leg as he did so, bending it was really quite agonizing and he struggled to get comfortable with it amongst the thick tree roots for a minute. Finally he closed his eyes and settled in to sleep, having a strange dream about humans of all things. He snapped awake abruptly at the sound of a breaking twig, his dream vanishing but it was something to do with humans and he was pretty sure they'd called him 'scorpion' in it. He wasn't a scorpion and neither were humans so really, it was rather odd.

'_Greetings,_' a newcomer and he focused solely on reality as another Thestral emerged from the trees.

'_Hello_,' he greeted the new Thestral excitedly and jumped up, immediately regretting it as the shockwaves of pain that rippled form his injured leg were unbearable.

'_You are injured_,' the Thestral stated, tilting its head to one side and peering at the wounds curiously.

'_Got into a fight with a werewolf_,' he explained, '_It was attacking me for some reason, it's the first thing I remember_.'

'_But you are young, how can that be your first memory?_'

'_I don't know_,' he admitted uncertainly, 'I was just there in the castle being attacked by a werewolf then by a human, I fled here.'

'_Hmm… Maybe you are a new addition the humans acquired but were attacked by a werewolf_,' the Thestral mused thoughtfully, '_Occasionally they like to add new blood to our herd.'_

_'You serve humans?_' he wondered suspiciously, not sure how he felt about that.

'_It is more of a symbiotic relationship, we help each other. Humans can do things we can't, they could take care of your leg,' _the Thestral explained and nodded his head at the injuries_, 'And we can do things they can't, its beneficial for us both to work together.'_

'_I suppose_,' he admitted and kicked at the ground with his unharmed leg, '_Is there any chance I can join your flock?'_

_'There is a chance of everything. I came to investigate your call after all_,' the Thestral pointed out as he approached him, he lowered his head submissively and the Thestral circled around him, sizing him up and sniffing before standing before him once more, '_Alright. I will take you to the rest of the herd in our paddock_.'

'_Thank you_,' he said with relief and the Thestral started off.

'_Tenebrus. That is what they call me.'_

'_I don't know what they call me_,' he admitted uncertainly.

He followed Tenebrus through the forest, being filled in about the forest and its various inhabitants as well as their territories. There was an impressive variety, he would've liked to hunt but Tenebrus informed him that the humans kept them well fed so they didn't really have to. In fact, some they were specifically told to stay away from. Especially owls, thankfully the bird he had killed earlier had not been an owl.

They reached the paddock, a blissfully dark and especially dense part of the forest that made it difficult to tell the time of day due to a lack of sunlight. It was good though, the glaring sun only ever got in the way. Tenebrus introduced him to the rest of the herd, quite a sizeable bunch with some attractive females.

He was sized up similarly by the herd, he bowed his head and let them encircle him, sniffing him as well. It was actually kind of uncomfortable, for some reason he got the impression he didn't like strangers being so close to his personal space. He still stood politely, he didn't want to be out there on his own. At the very least he needed the safety of numbers while he was injured.

'_It's a bit odd_,' one of the older looking Thestrals commented, cocking its head to one side, '_Why bring a Thestral into the castle? None of us have ever been brought into the castle. Why would Hagrid do this?_'

'_Maybe he didn't, maybe our newcomer here just bolted_,' one of the female Thestrals said as she surveyed him, '_He seems a bit wild_.'

'_I hunted and killed a bird earlier,_' he announced proudly and tossed his head back to try show off his mane to impress her, '_Despite my injuries_.'

'_A bird? I hope you didn't hurt yourself, you've got to be wary of those birds_,' she said with a snort of amusement and he hung his head ashamedly.

'_It better not have been an owl_,' another Thestral growled, a rather large one who stamped the ground disapprovingly, '_Hagrid will not be pleased. There's no place for disrespectful youths in our flock.'_

_'It wasn't an owl_,' he insisted truthfully, not that he thought he should be held accountable if it was because he hadn't known about it at the time.

'_There's something off about him anyway.'_

_'His eyes are gray not white_,' Tenebrus pointed out, '_I don't think there's anything wrong with that though, visual appearance is not everything.'_

_'I like the eyes_,' the female commented.

'_I don't_,' the big one snapped and snarled to show off his fangs, '_His blood smells a bit funny too, something is off about him_.'

'_Could just be because he's new though_,' the older Thestral spoke up again, '_No reason to not accept him. I say he's fine, if he proves unworthy then we can always revoke our acceptance later._'

'_I agree_,' Tenebrus announced and there was a general murmuring of agreement from the rest of the herd, Tenebrus gave him a respectful bow and he felt a surge of relief, '_Welcome to the group_.'

* * *

"Harry! Wake up!"

Harry Potter jolted awake at the sound of his name, he'd fallen asleep at his desk it seemed and it was strange to wake into a sitting position. He blinked his bleary eyes and had to fix his glasses, he'd drifted off wearing them so they'd gone askew. Only then did he saw the cause for his rude awakening, he'd expected Ron for someone reason but he was surprised to find it was the Minister. Alaric Layton was looking as if he'd received a rude awakening of his own, he appeared exhausted but also oddly animated.

"Wake _up_," Alaric reiterated impatiently, "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Harry wondered tiredly and annoyed himself, at Alaric though not the awakening because work was more important than sleeping.

"Have you heard about Michael Sanford attacking some of the students?"

"Of course I heard about it, my nephew was the victim!" Harry insisted incredulously, Alaric looked mildly surprised by this which only frustrated further. Did Alaric not bother to learn anything about a subject before bringing it up?

"Right, of course," Alaric nodded and idly rubbed his hands together, seemingly trying to decide whether it was impolite to jump back to his original point immediately, "How is he?"

"His Mother's with him," Harry admitted, he hoped Hugo was doing alright.

"Good. So did you see the article the _Prophet_ wants to print on it as their cover story?" Alaric dived back to his original point briskly and Harry sighed. Suddenly, he was also pretty sure Alaric had no family to be so unsympathetic.

"No."

"Well, let's say it does not shed a very favorable light on werewolves to say the least," Alaric explained and slipped into the chair opposite Harry, a flicker of relief crossing his face as if he'd been waiting to sit before launching back into his point, "And I'd really rather _not_ have that. There's two ways to look at this, there's the truth that some utterly despicable person tampered with a poor boy's treatment to use him as a weapon to deliberately hurt or kill others - which _is _utterly despicable, I mean what kind of sick, twisted, inhuman freak does that?! It's outrageous and then they have the _nerve_ to turn around and call the werewolf the monster, _they _were the ones taking measures to manage their natures and someone sabotages _that_?! It's worse than despicable, it is downright atrocious, it's the most contemptible, heinous act-"

Alaric paused abruptly, seeming to realize he had veered slightly off point into a surprisingly passionate rant. Maybe he hadn't just been lying to Scorpius when he'd mentioned being pro-werewolf, Harry wondered if they'd had any luck finding the missing boy because he'd just kind of vanished. Alaric cleared his throat.

"My point is, it will either be spun as werewolves being inherently evil, vicious monsters and reignite that whole conflict which is the last thing we need when we're already in a war _or_ it will be spun as werewolves just as much a victim since Sanford's Wolfsbane was tampered with which is the truth," Alaric explained, "There'll be a negative backlash against werewolves either way but the latter will diminish it."

"I agree," Harry admitted with a nod of acknowledgement, he was worried it would spark life back into PAW and he'd have to split his resources between them and the Shadows again, "But I don't see why you're telling me, _you_ are the Minister so if you want the _Prophet_ to spin it more positively then just order them too."

"I can't," Alaric stated seriously, "If they know I'm being supportive of werewolves then I'll lose my non-werewolf supporters. Politics, Harry, the ultimate strategy game."

"Well even if I go down there myself I'd need to tell them it's on your authority so they'd know anyway."

"I know," Alaric pointed out and looked around as if to make sure they were truly alone before lowering his voice and continuing, "But that wouldn't matter if you blackmailed Rita Skeeter the way you did as a teenager, whatever you have on her must've been good. Use it again, make her change her article."

"You're asking me to blackmail her?" Harry wondered in shock as Alaric stood, giving him a wolfish smile.

"No," Alaric said quietly, "I'm _telling_ you to."

"If I do this, will you let Flan talk to Riddle?" Harry called after him as Alaric went to leave, the Minister paused and sighed.

"Harry, if he sees Riddle then the guarding Aurors will see him," Alaric insisted unfairly yet again, "The less people know the better."

"They don't know the location though."

"But they will know the person to direct the Soul Eaters too and like you say, he's a civilian and he'll crumble if they torture him."

"But he might be able to get some information out of him, we've still had no luck interrogating him."

"I'll think about it when you do what I want," Alaric offered non-committedly as he left, passing by Ron on his way in. His friend was looking just as bad as Alaric, they both watched the Minister leave darkly.

"Nice to see when I leave for a few hours you have time to hang out with your new best buddy," Ron quipped irritably as he came in and slumped into the seat Alaric had been sitting in, Harry sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes.

Ever since Alaric was making him not tell Ron and Cel the location Riddle was being kept and that Flannery Leebin was the only other one who knew it aside from Harry himself, the pair had been rather cross with him to say the least. They accused him of not trusting them and favoring Alaric, they shared similar opinions of the Minister to Harry. Ron stared off unhappily, he was looking very gaunt and his hair more gray then red now.

"He's not my buddy, he just wanted something," Harry pointed out truthfully.

"Oh so you were doing a favor for your buddy," Ron complained irritably which made Harry scowl.

"Ron, you-"

"I'm sorry," Ron apologized half-heartedly, sinking back into his seat and looking depressed, "You can be buddies with Layton all you want, I don't care. My son's a werewolf."

"How is Hugo doing?" Harry wondered with genuine concern.

"Still sleeping it off, he has some wounds where he attacked himself but nothing too major except his arm's also kind of mangled from the bite. He should've given it the chop when he had the chance."

"Is it really that bad? Will he still be able to use it?"

"Sure when its healed but it's still better to lose an arm then become a werewolf," Ron pointed out as if it were obvious, "Better that and a good prosthetic then agonizing painful transformation and illness every month, the risk of running amuck as a psycho animal and oh yeah, all the prejudice of the Wizarding World. There's still attacks on werewolves, they get harassed and all. You know Flan has gotten death threats for his _baby_? Being told he should put that 'unnatural lupine abomination' out of its misery or they would. I never wanted that for Hugo, what was the kid thinking?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head, "Any other news?"

"Scorpius Malfoy is still missing, last Lysander and Hugo saw he was in with Michael. Michael was in too much of a state to get any information out of, best we got is that he went out of the smashed window then they had to give him something to help him sleep. I wanted to be angry at him but the kid's a wreck, what kind of sick person sabotages a werewolf's Wolfsbane?" Ron demanded but refrained from a tangent like Alaric, "Someone's trying to kill Luna's kids and I reckon the Aurors aren't able to stop them because they're already inside. Oh and Marigold should be okay, Michael mauled him pretty badly and his arm is broken in several places but he managed to make sure he wasn't bitten and he should pull through. After Michael ran off, he treated his wounds to some degree before succumbing to the pain and blacking out so the damage isn't as bad as it could've been."

"Good to know," Harry nodded as Cel Rooke walked in, his handsome sandy-haired protégé, "I think I'll see him after I'm done doing something for Alaric."

"Sure, by all means do a favor for your new best buddy," Cel quipped immediately, folding his arms testily, "The guy who orders you to do things then ditches you not the friends you've known for years."

"Thirty years and counting," Ron pointed out as Harry stood to leave, looking quite introspective, "Blimey, Harry, did you ever think we'd make it this far?"

"And yet, he doesn't trust you."

"I trust you!" Harry insisted in frustration, "Alaric is the one who doesn't. Besides it's not even really necessary, he's just keeping the loop very small."

"And us out of it," Ron added.

"I'll see you later."

"Where are you even going?" Cel wondered as Harry headed for the door.

"To blackmail a beetle," Harry admitted, Alaric hadn't told him to keep that to himself, "Alaric wants an article less biased against werewolves."

"Then you may want to know what I actually came to tell you, the Potions professor managed to confirm Sanford's Wolfsbane was indeed messed with. There were traces of other ingredients in the vial it was in, it was sabotaged and by someone in Hogwarts too."

"The Shadows?" Ron guessed with a surge of anger, "Did the Shadows do this to my boy?!"

"It could be," Cel said slowly, "But I have no idea what they'd stand to gain from killing the Scamanders, we could be looking at a third party."

"Well, we'll talk about it later," Harry promised truthfully.

"Yes, because unlike your new best buddy we didn't go home and abandon you!" Ron or Cel called after him as he left. Harry hated this.

* * *

He felt much more at ease with the herd, there was safety in numbers and it was a nicer part of the forest, most of the Thestrals seemed quite accepting of him anyway. They journeyed to a nearer stream for another drink of water before returning to settle down to sleep, he found a comfortable nook by a tree root that he could rest his head on. Once he'd gone through the awkward process of trying to sit with his injured leg, his chest also pained him still but the legs were the ones taking the brunt of his weight.

He again dreamed of humans and was again awoken by the sound of someone approaching, this time it wasn't Tenebrus but a human. The same human who'd tried to attack him from before, the other Thestrals didn't seem as concerned by him. He jumped up in panic though, screeching at pain he'd aggravated in his leg without thinking and nudged Tenebrus in panic.

'_What?_' Tenebrus wondered, flicking his tail in disapproval at the awakening.

'_That human is the one who tried to attack me from before!_' he screeched desperately, the other Thestral's eyes widened but it was too late.

The human had already fired a flash of light at him, this time he was stuck between a tree and a Thestral so unable to dodge it. He was thrown back and abruptly felt his body contorting and compressing, he screeched in pain and heard his fellow Thestrals shrieking in panic. He felt his wings and tail melding into his back, his hooves become strange fleshy limbs and his hair receding, he also felt like he was shrinking.

And then it was over, he was forced to be on his knees because his front and back legs were no longer the same length. He stared down at the strange pale five pronged stumps, he looked up at Tenebrus who backed away from him slightly and the other Thestrals all seemed to have stopped moving. He didn't understand what was happening to him, he tried to whimper and realized the anatomy of his head had also changed.

He didn't want to be changed, how was he supposed to live like this?! How could he fly without wings?! How as he expected to hunt with this wrongful body?! Why did he have cloths on him?! What kind of Thestral was he now?! He felt like a freak of nature, he just wanted to normal. He heard movement again and spun to face the human, he tried to scramble away but he was hit by another flash of light. He tumbled backwards and memories started soaking back into his mind, gushing in like floodgates had been opened.

"Is this you alright now, Scorpius?" Rojer questioned in his usual accented voice, looking as grim as ever.

Scorpius looked back to him in shock, he nodded but kept trembling fearfully. He couldn't believe how completely he'd lost his mind, lost all thoughts of his family and friends, the Shadows, the war… It had all been gone. He could've lived out his entire existence as a Thestral, completely abandoning them. The thought terrified him. It absolutely terrified him.

"Come on. Let us go," Rojer spoke again and Scorpius realized he'd limped over to him, he jerked his head in a random direction. Scorpius had no idea where they were but he very much didn't want to be there, the Alchemist rolled his eyes and reluctantly offered him his scarred hand to help him up, "We have need to get back."

"Okay," Scorpius muttered finally and took Rojer's hand to get up off the dirt shakily, he cradled his injured arm to his chest and watched the surprised Thestrals, "Let's go home."


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets Spilled

_**Parts (22-26)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 6  
**

Secrets Spilled

* * *

**Part 1: **Talking in the Trees

* * *

Rojer headed off and Scorpius followed shakily, still unnerved from losing his mind as well as in pain from his elbow and chest, it hurt to breathe. He also started to feel very anxious, they were in the Forbidden Forest which was home to a number of dark and dangerous things while he was injured and didn't even have his wand. He felt naked without his wand. It didn't help they were moving quite slowly, Rojer seemed to know the way but he also had a severe limp dragging their speed down. It seemed worse than usual even, it also appeared to be paining him as he kept rubbing it with a cringe. Rojer didn't look the slightest bit perturbed however, looking so unfazed he could've been teaching another class. They walked in silence, Rojer not making any attempt at conversation before coming to a halt.

"What?! What's wrong?! What's happening?!" Scorpius hissed in panic as quietly as possible while Rojer started plucking some random berries.

"I am hungry, I have been tracking you for this long time. I do not like to be hungry," Rojer stated casually as he popped them into his mouth, "Do not be jumpy."

"There's all kinds of things in the forest, I'm injured and I don't have my wand," Scorpius pointed out as Rojer munched on the berries, "My friend and I fought off a Bicorn once."

"Hmm," Rojer mused through a mouthful of berries before he started rifling through his robes, something else worrying occurred to him.

"Are you sure those berries are safe to eat?" Scorpius asked worriedly, "They could be poisonous."

"They are not. I do not know the name for them in English but I have had them many of times before, since I was a boy I eat these," Rojer shook his head and Scorpius felt a jolt of guilt at the mention of his childhood, Ashylos had died in a forest when Rojer was a child. Rojer seemed to find what he was looking for and held out a wand to him, Scorpius recognized it immediately as his own, "Here."

"My wand?" Scorpius wondered in surprise as he took it with his good arm.

"I picked this up before I went after you."

"What about Michael?"

"I sealed the werewolfs in so they could not get out and attack others in the school, this is the last I see of him," Rojer answered with a dismissive shrug as he started walking again, Scorpius following and keeping his wand held tight.

"That was brave of you," Scorpius offered and Rojer gave a derisive snort.

"It is not brave or difficult to seal the door."

"Facing off against a werewolf is though."

"Not if you have no fear. There is no courage if there is no fear to overcome, I do not fear werewolfs. I didn't care. This is not courage."

Scorpius decided to give up arguing with him because he didn't have the strength, the slow silence resumed and the ache ate away at his ribs. And his arm, the bite was burning painfully and he didn't think having walked on it had helped any. He knew he should feel pleased to have finally succeeded at transforming but he couldn't even think of Thestrals without feeling terrified of how he'd lost his mind, he was also worried about Michael. And Hugo, had the poor kid severed his arm or turned into a werewolf? And the assassin, someone was definitely out to get Lysander along with he and Lorcan, maybe even Michael. Damn, the pain.

"Do you know how much further or longer until we get out of here?" Scorpius asked finally to break it.

"No."

"Can we rest a minute then? The pain is pretty bad."

"Pain? You do not know the meaning of the word," Rojer scoffed but he stopped nonetheless while Scorpius felt a pang of guilt, his eyes glittering darkly as he glanced at him before making a bird-like caw sound that he'd heard Cassia do. He heard a twittering of birds overhead and felt sick as he remembered eating one, "There is a stream near to us, we can rest there. If you want, I can look at your wounds. I know how to heal and I have some elixirs with me."

"You always carry around healing elixirs with you?" Scorpius wondered as they started walking again, veering off into another direction.

"I do not have trust in healers or doctors so I always treat my own self. You do not know when something could happen that you might have need," Rojer shrugged, "You may one night just go to carry your empty plate down to wash in the kitchens and have to go stop a werewolf going crazy then run after a boy who turns into a Thestral without making sure his mind intact and flies into a large, dangerous forest. You never know."

"Fair point," Scorpius admitted with a weak smile although he wasn't sure if Rojer had meant to be humorous, he never seemed to notice when he said something amusing. He noticed Rojer rubbing his leg again, "Does your leg pain you?"

"Always. Especially a lot when you walk for a long time like now."

"You didn't have to, you know?" Scorpius pointed out guiltily although he supposed he should count himself lucky it was Rojer, others wouldn't be so apathetic to the fact he was an animagus, "You could've just told the Aurors or something and they'd have sent out a search party."

"I did not think of that," Rojer admitted thoughtfully before shaking his head, "No, I do not like this idea. If you want something done then you do it by yourself, you cannot have faith in strangers. Now speaking to_ them_ would have been brave."

"You're scared of Aurors but not werewolves?"

"Absolutely. Humankind are the worst of all creatures and Aurors have the training to fight, I do not like this," Rojer explained as they came through a thicket into a small clearing with a stream, Scorpius didn't think it was the same one he'd been at before. The alchemist glanced at it for a moment as if lost in memory and Scorpius felt another wave of guilt, he knew Rojer was thinking of Ashylos' death. Rojer had been playing in a stream in a forest right before it happened after all, it had to remind him. Scorpius regretted saying anything, "Here this is."

"It's alright, I'm feeling much better," Scorpius lied and Rojer slid his eyes to him disapproving.

"Come on," Rojer insisted and led them over, he jerked his wand lazily at two rocks by the side and enlarged to make them big enough to sit on. They both did, Rojer very slowly and seeming to be cautious with his leg as it seemed painful to bend it, "How is your chest hurt?"

"Some cuts from the claws and I'm pretty sure some of my ribs are broken," Scorpius reluctantly admitted.

Rojer looked bored as he waved his wand over Scorpius with a golden light. He flicked it again and Scorpius cried out in pain as he felt his ribs snapping for a second, then the pain was gone and he was breathing unhindered once more.

"Now they are not broken," Rojer commented while Scorpius could only feel surprise.

"It was that easy to heal my ribs?" Scorpius wondered and Rojer nodded as he conjured a cloth, he soaked it in the stream, "Why didn't you do that sooner?"

"Last time I tried to use healing on you, you hit me in the face. I do not like to be hit," Rojer complained as he withdrew another vial, sprinkling it over the dripping cloth, "I do not blame you, if it had been me then I would have hit me too and I would not have stopped the struggling."

"I am sorry about that, you know?" Scorpius apologized as Rojer handed him the cloth.

"I know, you tell me this before. You need to clean the wounds on your chest with that, they already look dirty and it is not good if they get infected. They are curse wounds and the curse wounds cannot be healed so easily nor can infections that arising from them."

"Like this?" Scorpius wondered worriedly as he awkwardly pressed the wet cloth on the wounds, cringing at the pain it caused to touch them and Rojer nodded.

"Can I look at your elbow?" Rojer queried and Scorpius inclined his head in agreement, "This is where there was the bite."

Scorpius raised his injured arm up to let the alchemist look at it, all the while continuing to try clean his chest with the cloth with his other hand. He cringed in pain as Rojer pulled up his sleeve to get a better look at the wound, despite him doing it as carefully as possible. Rojer waved his wand over it and Scorpius jolted in pain as he felt it snapping back properly into place, he hadn't realized it had been broken. It continued to ache though, the bite still stinging very painfully. Rojer took the cloth off him when he was done and washed it off again in the stream, getting rid of the dirt and dried blood before doing the same as before. This time, he started cleaning out the wounds on Scorpius' arm. It hurt even worse than the claw wounds and he had to grit his teeth through it.

"Does this still hurt?" Rojer questioned when he was finished cleaning the arm and Scorpius nodded, "Alright."

Rojer sighed as he took out his wand this time and started tracing invisible lines with it over the bite, Scorpius was oddly reminded of what he'd done when he'd been poisoned. Finally he searched in his robes for yet another vial, he poured the silvery contents over Scorpius' injured elbow. The liquid seemed thicker than water but thinner than syrup, it was shimmering and oddly seemed to move where Rojer had traced with his wand in the shape of some alchemical symbols. Scorpius gave a sharp intake of breathe as it started to melt into his flesh, it was freezing cold and he was definitely reminded of the poison cure now.

He didn't mind it so much though, it didn't start hurtling through his veins like last time and instead he saw traces oozing into the wounds on his arm. The cold became a very good thing as it seemed to numb the pain, soothing the burning and washing the ache away all together. He'd been so focused on that, he hadn't noticed Rojer getting bandages and was slightly surprised when the alchemist started wrapping it around his elbow to bandage the wound.

"That's the same stuff you used to get the poison out of me, isn't it?" Scorpius wondered curiously and Rojer nodded without pausing in his work.

"I told you this has other uses," Rojer pointed out as if it were blatantly obvious, "You just need to direct it correctly is all, it can be used to purge the body of foreign bad things like poison or decay from necrosis. This can also be used to numb pain due to the coldness of the temperature, it can latch onto pain receivers and stop the hurt. Is very good, will stop the pain for you and act as a plug against infection then purge any bad away."

"It's very effective."

"I know, this is why I use it for my leg at night so I can sleep. Or if the pain is particularly unbearable."

"Why not just use it all the time?"

"Because then it would kill me, the main is Mercury," Rojer told him as he finished bandaging it and Scorpius recalled from class that it was poisonous, "Constant use results in death, you have to pace the usage of it. Is this alright now or do you need your chest done as well?"

"No, I'm good. Thank you," Scorpius offered truthfully.

He was grateful for Rojer's help after all. He'd practically saved his life. Again. He felt a wave of guilt crashing painfully against him once more as he gazed into the stream, Rojer had saved his life _twice _and he'd murdered his father. He couldn't keep doing this, he had to tell him. He had to tell him now.

"Did you want five minutes more or can we on moving?" Rojer questioned obliviously and Scorpius wiped at the tears pricking his eyes.

"I killed your father," Scorpius blurted out, to which Rojer gave a snort of amusement.

"Scorpius, I don't know who you killed but my father died a long time before even your grandfather was born. Besides, I saw the man who murdered my father and he was not you."

"That's right. You watched your father die, right in front of you. You were only seven years old, in a forest, in Europe. He was telling you off about going outside when it wasn't safe," Scorpius told him and watched as any kind of prior amusement bled off Rojer's face, "Grindelwald's men hit him in the back with a Killing Curse. He didn't have a chance, didn't see it coming. Ashylos, his name was Ashylos and you were his last child."

"How d-"

"I know because Ashylos showed me, I knew him," Scorpius cut him off and launched into an explanation of meeting Ashylos' spirit, the Scepter, the Shadows… Once he started, he couldn't stop and he was crying by the time he was talking about sacrificing Ashylos to save Professor Ashain. All the while, Rojer listened in stoic silence, "… And I'm so sorry, Rojer, I'm sorry."

"Hmm… Well this I did not expect," Rojer admitted, looking at a loss for words while his eyes drifted and he seemed to soak in the news. Scorpius wiped his eyes miserably, Rojer sighed and glanced black to him, "I forgive you."

"You forgive me?" Scorpius wondered in absolute shock and Rojer nodded.

"My father died when I was a child and he didn't die because of you, he died because I was a insolent little brat who did not do as he was told. My choice cost him his life not yours," Rojer told him seriously, staring off into the stream guiltily, "He would have forgiven you, he would have wanted you to save Ashain. My father was a good man, the best. He lived for a long life, he did not wish to die but he accepted death and would rather the younger have a chance. In a way I think he is glad, Pancratius sacrificed his soul to stop Herpo and he often felt this should have been his fate too. He'd think it quite fitting in a way, I know he would. You should not feel bad, I understand."

"I still feel bad," Scorpius sniffed, "He was a good person, a hero… And I destroyed his soul."

"He was right, you know?" Rojer commented, finally meeting his eyes. The dark chestnut identical to Ashylos and flecked with unshed tears, "I know the magic you would have to do to repair his soul and it would take longer then you had even if you were an expert at this. You could not have saved them both, you are deluding yourself if you believe different to this. Life is not fair, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad, choices are not easy. You could either destroy him or allow Ashain to perish, you would have feel bad either way. I understand and I forgive you, besides his soul would not have been there if not for me."

"You shouldn't blame yourself either," Scorpius pointed out, "Ashylos didn't hold it against you, he didn't blame you."

"I could say the same about you," Rojer insisted quite truthfully as he idly played with his hands, "I guess the both of us just killed him, it is not so easy to forgive yourself."

"I guess," Scorpius admitted with a sigh, feeling oddly relieved to just have gotten it out in the open and Rojer had taken it much better then he'd thought apart from blaming himself as well, "He was worried about you, you know? Ashylos. He didn't know what happened to you, he regretted not being able to find out. He thought you were most likely dead though, considering how he left you."

"Are you asking me how is it I survived?" Rojer questioned quite bluntly, tearing his eyes away from his hands and Scorpius gave a gesture somewhere between a nod and a shrug. He was kind of curious but he also respected if Rojer didn't want to say, "They did not try to kill me, instead they wished to capture me. Avara – my father's bird companion and closest friend – died trying to protect me, they caught me after she died. I think they wanted information, to know if there was others in the forest but I do not know. I could only speak bird and Ancient Greek, I still do not know what language they were using. At first they ask nicely but I did not understand so they got more violent, I was beaten and tortured but of course, I still did not know."

"Is that how your leg was crippled?" Scorpius wondered curiously but Rojer shook his head.

"Not yet. They kept me prisoner for a few weeks, I do not know exactly how long but eventually they gave up on getting anything useful out of me. Instead they took me to a place for… I do not know, safe keeping or something. They took me to a muggle place, a Nazi concentration camp. Do you know what this is?" Rojer continued and paused to query it but Scorpius shook his head, "While Grindelwald raised a magical war, the muggles also fought a massive war call the World War Two. The Nazi side gathered the people they did not like into camps, the majority were the Jewish but there was also Gypsies, homosexuals, prisoners of the war, criminals even sex criminals even those that hurt children… and erm… others, lots of people were there. I was branded mentally ill because they thought I could only speak gibberish, I found out later anyway because I did not know the language.

"They… They do not treat you well. You are starved and kept barely alive, forced to do work, the conditions were so bad people died all of the days from it and that's not even counting the people they killed. They killed so many people, extermination they call it. The guards were sadistic and cruel on top of all this, people _are_ monsters. When I first went there, I would beg for my life but by the time I left there, I would beg for my death. Death was the only way out of that nightmare, the only way. I deserved it though, this was the punishment for my father's life. I do not know if it is because of my father or magic in general but I was resilient, I kept surviving no matter how bad it was.

"German was their language that they spoke, I learned to speak it there. There was a man who was kind to me or at least he did pretend to be, he also helped me learn to read a bit in the language. I hate languages, it is awful to be trapped in a land of people that you cannot even communicate with, to not understand at all," Rojer stopped to shake his head and sigh before seeming to force himself to continue, "And this is where my leg was crippled, where I got this burns as well. On top of all of that, they did experiments. Medical experiments they call them, is just another way to torture. This is why I cannot trust anyone in this profession. They put me in freezing conditions to test survival or something, they burn me with mustard gas to test treatment and my leg…

"When I was just nine they did a experiment on my leg, they just cut pieces out of it. They didn't even give me anesthetic or anything for the pain, they just started hacking away like the butchers they were. It was agony and ever since then my leg is still broken, it hurts because the nerves are there damaged and it cannot move correctly because they cut out some of the muscles needed to move it right. It is sad, magic could have repaired this damage but by the time I was in magical hands it was too late. They did nothing for the pain or to help me walk, I had to deal with it or I would die. The pain is bad and never ending, even to sleep I would have to wait until I was exhausted and weak my body could not physically cope with consciousness because the pain was unbearable. I use to lie awake crying the pain was so bad or praying to the Gods for a mercy I did not deserve, I never got a reprieve."

"You got out eventually though?" Scorpius wondered while Rojer rubbed his leg and looked upset, he knew that had to be the case but nonetheless felt morbidly interested.

"Yes," Rojer nodded, still looking solemn, "The Nazis lost the war and the camp was liberated when I was twelve, I had five years in that place. I was so weak and starved I threw up the food the soldiers would try to give to me, I was completely broken. It was only after that I got mixed up in the magical world again, they thought I was Polish I think or that I would be best there so they come and give me a place in Bratuslaw. They did not believe me when I said I was the son of an Ancient Greek hero so I never told anyone again, they thought I was insane like the Nazis thought and had forgotten my true past. I was sent to stay with a family, a farmer and his wife who should of teach me Polish before the term started. They were not kind to me either, I had to work from dawn to dusk and was beaten every day and I was still not fed properly because things were rough and they did not wish to waste food on me. If I do well, I was beaten as incentive to do better and if I do bad then I was beaten as punishment for it. The work was torture on my leg, sometimes I would collapse because I literally could not stand it and he would beat me while I was down then leave me there. I'd have to drag myself back inside or just lie there outside in the cold until I could bear to move, even freedom is not free."

"I'm sorry," Scorpius offered genuinely and apologetically, Rojer gave a half shrug as he stood.

"I deserved it. Come on, we can share our pasts more some other time. You know how I lived and I know what became of my father's soul, we should get back and the birds warn a Bicorn is coming for a drink. The forest is not a good place for this."

Scorpius didn't need telling twice, feeling quite overwhelmed by all that happened and could use some time to digest it all. He thought Rojer did too because they walked back in a more introspective silence then before. Hogwarts was very much a sight for sore eyes, Scorpius didn't think he'd ever been so glad to see the castle as he was when he left the tree line and followed Rojer back inside. It was daylight, he hadn't noticed so much in the forest but it was day, he had no idea what time but it was day. Rojer led him back to the Hospital Wing and was just about to leave when Weedy Larry called to me.

"Young Master Malfoy! And… Alchemy person," the Headmaster greeted them, somewhat enthusiastically, "It is a relief to see you alright, Mr Malfoy."

"I wouldn't be if not for _Professor Voltur_," Scorpius decided to emphasize the name, quite offended Weedy Larry didn't seem to know it. He should treat his workers with respect and the headmaster redirected his focus to the alchemist.

"What in the devil happened?"

"Devil?" Rojer repeated in confusion.

"What happened!?" Weedy Larry demanded more forcefully and pronounced.

"There was a werewolf attacked the boy," Rojer told him, his accented being especially pronounced for some reason, "He went out the window into the forest so I sealed in the werewolf and went to get him back so I did this."

"You couldn't give me more details?"

"Details?" Rojer repeated in mock confusion, Scorpius was very much aware he knew the meaning of the word. He was just playing up his language barrier to avoid speaking to Weedy Larry.

"Oh go on with you," Weedy Larry snapped and waved his arm dismissively, "And buy a bloody English dictionary while you're at it!"

"Dic-tion-ary?"

"Just go!" Weedy Larry practically yelled and Rojer limped off immediately, Scorpius realized this was actually quite fortuitous as it meant it wasn't common knowledge he was an animagus since the headmaster didn't seem to know this already. He knew it was illegal to keep it a secret but… maybe it was best to keep a lid on it for now, it was also illegal to aid fugitives like Varanian after all, "And you, find a bed and I'll have the temporary Healer come look at you. On behalf of Hogwarts, I apologize for the inconvenience this caused you… And deduct thirty-five points from Gryffindor for your non-compliance with the curfew."

On that note, Weedy Larry stalked off - good riddance in Scorpius' opinion - and Scorpius was left on his own in the Hospital Wing. Not quite alone anyway, he saw Marigold in a bed near his office. He was very much asleep, he had a stitched wound running down his face, a nose that looked broken or incorrectly set and a bandaged arm in a sling. He also saw Hugo sleeping soundly a few beds down, he immediately spotted the Hufflepuff had both arms.

"You chose to be a werewolf," Scorpius said more to himself then anyone but the boy stirred slightly anyway, he shrugged as much as possible as his eyes struggled to stay open.

"I didn't want to lose my wand arm, takes months before it heals enough for a prosthetic. Full moon is once a month but amputation is for life," Hugo explained and sighed weakly, "At least it seemed like the best choice in the minute I had to decide."

"Fair enough, at least you're alive," Scorpius offered and Hugo nodded as his eyes flickered shut.

"Glad you're alive too. Michael's down the far end by the window if you want to see him."

"Thanks, get some rest."

Hugo tried to nod but fell asleep half way through, Scorpius did feel bad for the poor boy. He continued on up the room, he didn't see Michael but there was a bed cordoned off. Scorpius rounded it and saw his friend lying on his side facing the window, his shoulders were shaking as he silently sobbed. Scorpius moved in front of him so Michael could see his face, he tried to speak but he was crying too hard and Scorpius really didn't know what to say. He had somehow suspected Michael would take this badly. He approached his friend and sat down on the bed, he gently eased Michael up before pulling him into a tight hug and letting his friend cry uncontrollably into his shoulder.

* * *

**Part 2: **Prejudice

* * *

Following the full moon, Scorpius soon quickly realized Hogwarts and the Wizarding World in general was all riled up. Scorpius was pleased to see that the _Prophet _article about it was surprisingly pro-werewolf, placing the blame on whoever had sabotaged the Wolfsbane and he thought things would've been worse if they had crucified Michael – which they very well could've – but it still couldn't erase all the damage. The wounds of the werewolf issue had been reopened and several werewolves had actually been attacked as 'retribution' for the attack, thankfully no deaths though. Still, it wasn't good and Scorpius knew this was only going to make Michael feel even worse.

Michael had cried himself to sleep on Scorpius' shoulder, his body succumbing to the toll the full moon took. He slept through the rest of the day and night, when Scorpius left the Hospital Wing he was still sleeping. Scorpius was kept the rest of the day – missing his classes, he also had to hide the fact his arm had been bitten to avoid letting the other guy know he was an animagus – and overnight for observation but was allowed out the next day, unfortunately Marigold's replacement didn't let him go before the Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw Quidditch match though so he missed Orous' first match as Captain.

Hufflepuff lost 90 to 180, Vern had done his job and Orous seemingly had trained his Chasers well but ultimately Sequoia had caught the Snitch. Orous had been close though apparently, the older boy's longer arms apparently coming in useful. Scorpius was quite disappointed, he'd wanted his friends to do well and he thought poor Hugo could use a win after turning. Michael was released the next day, he went straight to the dormitory to lie down and cover himself in drapes to sleep some more. Scorpius gave him space but after Michael still 'slept' through dinner as well as lunch, he was just avoiding having to face the world.

"Michael, you can't just stay in your bed forever. Come on, you have to eat," Scorpius urged him as he pulled back the drapes, seeing Michael lying on his side staring with tired, guilt-ridden eyes at nothing.

"I'm not hungry," Michael mumbled quietly and Scorpius sighed as he sat down on the bedside beside him.

"It's not your fault, you know?" Scorpius offered gently, "The Wolfsbane was tampered with, Professor Vipera confirmed."

"I know it was sabotaged but it doesn't matter. It just goes to show what I'm capable of when not restrained, it shows deep down I'm a monster."

"You shouldn't look at it like that because that's not the way it is, you're _not_ a monster. I know you and this wasn't you, it's just the condition You're more then your condition."

"Those were my own claws, my own teeth, I_ felt_ my own body doing those things and liking- And what the hell happened to you?" Michael changed mid-sentence, seeming to realize something for the first time and actually sat up to look at him in surprise, "I bit you and you… you turned into a _Thestral_? What… What was… Why?"

"I erm… I've been training to become an animagus," Scorpius admitted quietly and nervously, Michael's jaw dropped, "It stopped me turning into a werewolf since only humans can be turned. Or something like that."

"You're an _animagus_?!"

"Yes. Sort of. That was the first time I transformed fully," Scorpius pointed out and Michael continued to look bewildered.

"Then- Then why did you run away when Rojer told you to turn back? He said something about you having your mind or not, animagi keep their minds when they transform."

"When you're still learning, you need to use a spell to keep your mind from going… animal. Mine wore off so I lost my mind, Thestral instincts took over and erm… well, a castle isn't their natural habitat. Rojer tracked me down and brought me back though, otherwise I- I might still be eating birds. It's a risk of the training until you adapt to it."

"Why would do you something so stupid and risky?!" Michael snapped, looking annoyed, "What even is the point?!"

"These guys- the Marauders became them when they found out their friend was a werewolf in the times before Wolfsbane, animagi can be around werewolves more safely so they learned to be around their friend so the transformation would be more bearable. I figured that- that I could try do the same to help you, especially since you attack yourself and all."

"You did that for _me_?" Michael wondered, looked stunned and Scorpius nodded. Michael gaped at him for a moment before anger returned, he scoffed, "Well that's just stupid! You think losing my best friend in a Thestral mind is going to help me?! You think staying with me would help?! I'm a freaking monster, the last thing I want is for people – _or Thestrals_ – to be around me! Nothing can help me! Why would you even waste time on this?! There's so much more to life."

"No, that _is_ life," Scorpius said firmly, slightly hurt by Michael's reaction but nonetheless he didn't regret it. He would help Michael whether his friend wanted it or not, "Friends, family are the things in life that make it worthwhile, if I have to fight for them or to help them then I'll do it. And you fall into that category whether you like it or not."

"You're an idiot."

"If that makes me an idiot then so be it," Scorpius insisted and Michael just looked in him in disbelief before shaking his head.

"Well whatever, if you want to waste your own life then waste your own life but don't blame me," Michael told him as he lay back down on his side, adding so quietly Scorpius barely heard him, "I have enough to be blamed for."

"Are you going to come to dinner now?"

"No."

Scorpius sighed heavily but left his friend be to go to dinner, he swiped what he could from the table though and conjured a plate to put it on when he got back to the dormitory. He left it by Michael's bedside, recalling Michael doing similar back in their First Year. Michael glanced at him with red, tear-stained eyes but said nothing as Scorpius left it. The next day, the plate was empty.

* * *

_Carver was the most difficult baby and he quickly became the least favorite of Xerxes' children, he was a fussy, colicky and big baby who cried incessantly. And it didn't help his mother was a complete moron, not only did Xerxes have to care for the boy while she worked but she also frequently showed up at his door with their screaming son wanting his help. He had to show her how to change a diaper not once, not twice but three times and he was sure she wasn't doing it right. She didn't know how to feed him either, confused by the fact babies only drank milk and didn't have any solid foods yet, she didn't know to burp him until he mentioned it. Carver ended up in the hospital twice from her trying to bathe him, the first time he nearly drowned in the bath tub because she thought she could leave him in there and the second because she tried to shower him with her and dropped the poor child because they were slippery in the shower. _

_Xerxes thought Carver should consider himself lucky to be alive, Maeghan was completely lacking in maternal instinct and everything she did was wrong. He thought it was a good thing he was such a brilliant man and father because if left to her own devices, he was sure Maeghan would've killed Carver accidentally by now. Aside from the shower incident, she'd dropped him twice more, once because he was too heavy and another in shock because she saw a spider. She also forgot him, twice she'd left him on the Knight Bus, once at the park, once in Gringotts and multiple times with Xerxes for days at a time even, she'd also came over to drop him off more than once and forgotten Carver. She claimed she wasn't used to motherhood and was so sleep deprived from Carver's crying that she found it hard to remember things or got confused. And if he complained, she liked to point out how she'd been the one to have to go through pregnancy and childbirth. _

_Xerxes thought she was the worst mother in the world, sure his mother had abandoned him but at least she hadn't been as stupid as Maeghan and actually had a brain. He had to try really hard to resist the urge to point it out to her, if he called out on her poor parenting then she'd break down crying or storm off crying, insisting she was doing her best – her best sucked – and trying to be a good mother, something she failed completely at. He didn't want to be stuck with her crying or for her to leave Carver behind in her anger, didn't she notice he also had Ethan to deal with? The poor boy was an angel compared to his brother, or brothers because Stephan did nothing but act up whenever Xerxes had him. _

_He was so busy juggling his sons that he was reduced to trying to seduce some of his female clients because he couldn't get out, he did succeed with two. A married woman, Jada Kalya, who felt neglected by her absent husband and Alexis "Alzay" Loren who was a rather kind of a psychopath with Daddy issues, good thing he wasn't sleeping with her because of her personality. It was a hectic year but after turning one, Carver finally seemed to be getting over his colic and being more manageable. He considered Stephan the average on baby skills, Carver started walking sooner but talking later while Ethan started talking sooner but walking later. He thought that meant they kind of evened out._

_That was also the year Senna started pushing the organization she worked for and the school Stephan attended, asking him if he was truly happy and promising he could have more. The pay would be much better, steady students and it was some kind of strange sect school. Xerxes ultimately decided it wouldn't hurt to try it, it was expensive paying for himself and contributing to Maeghan for Carver on top of that. Senna told him more and Xerxes realized that he'd been wrong, it did hurt to try it. He wasn't stupid, an 'organization' called the Soul Eaters hell-bent on world domination was not going to let him just walk away with the knowledge he had. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, on one hand it made sense in a practical way but it was undoubtedly dark. He'd already decided to go with it though so he didn't have to worry, he'd rather be with them then against them. _

_It was better for him to accept the job in the current moment, if it all crumbled then he could play the victim – it wasn't a lie they'd have killed him – and go back to his previous life and if it succeeded then he was already in a good position. Xerxes knew maybe he should care more but he wasn't really interested in the politics of the world, he just wanted to his live his life, as long as he and his sons were comfortable then he was happy. The school called 'The Training Tower' very imaginatively was on island now unplottable and invisible, not a particularly warm climate either but he would be given some nice quarters there. It was supposed to specifically train children to be elite soldiers for them, the methods were rather harsh but his children didn't have to use the blood quill so he could live with it. As long as he didn't think about it too much or get close to the children then it would be fine._

_He did warm up to their beliefs a bit when he realized where the children came from, some were from magical families sent because the selfish parents were lured by the thought of elite children or relatives of Soul Eaters or promised to straighten out misbehaving youths, orphans were lapped up from any walk of life and then there was muggle-borns. They often tricked parents into sending away their magical children, the muggles were pretty ignorant and would need to send them away anyway to learn. This was obviously quite mean but it was the fact that the blood purity of the student was irrelevant once they were in training, being pureblooded was obviously best but he didn't have anything against them, just like violet eyes was obviously the best color to have but he didn't hate those with different eye colors._

_Having to move did mean an end to his relationships with Alzay and Jada, Alzay didn't really care but then she did not get attached to the people slept with anymore– in fact, she less than did. Everyone was just a tool to be used at her disposal – then he did but Jada was very upset. It would mean more time with Stephan but it would mean less time with Carver, he also had to bid his son a more temporary farewell and tried encourage Maeghan to send him there. He'd rather his sons be close to him and Maeghan continued to be terrible at motherhood like thinking starting to talk meant he understood English completely, she was quite angry until he had to explain it was learned. Unlike Carver, he was glad to be rid of the idiotic Maeghan. He traveled to the Training Tower with Ethan just before the boy turned two, the perfect age to start on the Soul Eater program. _

* * *

Michael had to leave the dormitory because of classes the next day, he'd only eat when Scorpius put food on his plate and didn't really do anything unless Scorpius pushed him too, he barely even spoke. The other students weren't helping, people stared at Michael when he passed them in the corridors, pointing and whispering. And they were the nice ones, some opening called out slurs and insults against Michael and werewolves in generals. It persisted even after several different teachers had punished them for it and some people were harassed just for being supportive of werewolves. There was support too outside of his friends, Sequoia and both Notts were known to give detentions and deduct points for showing prejudice against werewolves like that. The Koray kids both threatened trouble with their father if they did anything around them, a couple of people from Alchemy class – not Elm – made a point to call people out on it, so did Martha despite Michael's dislike of her and the Quidditch team seemed supportive too.

"I'll punch anyone who insults my teammate," Kemen Arkaitz, the new hulking Beater had promised Scorpius, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. That's what teamwork's all about."

He did too, more than one person found a fist in their face for it. Albus also got into several fights for his friend, refusing to take crap from anyone and Orous got into trouble for dueling over it. Michael had a habit of guiltily agreeing with their cruel words against himself, sometimes fighting off tears. Finally, they _did_ actually bring Michael to tears and while Scorpius moved him away to console him, Maurice withdrew his wand. Scorpius didn't see what he did but he knew six people went to the Hospital Wing that night and when they got out, Michael received six apologies. And it wasn't even just Michael getting crap for it, Hugo may have been a victim of the attack but he was a werewolf now and was treated accordingly. Scorpius didn't even realize until he spotted the head of bushy-red hair randomly walking by the Great Hall in pajamas, they were looking a little torn too.

"Hugo, what are you doing in your pajamas?" Scorpius wondered in confusion, Hugo glanced ashamedly at his bare feet while two Hufflepuffs passed snickering.

"When I woke up, all my clothes were gone and everyone's gone to breakfast," Hugo answered quietly, "I'm trying to find a teacher to ask for help."

"Someone hid your clothes?" Scorpius deduced and Hugo started to nod, making Scorpius catch sight of a strange shadow on the younger boy's face. He cupped Hugo's chin and raised his face to look at him, noticing a black eye and a split lip, "Someone beat you up?"

"My roommates ganged up, said they didn't want to die or be werewolves and if I didn't get out of their dormitory then I'd pay," Hugo recounted, wrestling to keep the tears behind his eyes while a few more students passing snickered at him, "I stayed so I had to pay. They do worse every night, last night they beat me up."

"Gee, Lorc, aren't you glad you sent Hugo to meet that secret admirer instead of you? You'd freak if you were beat up and face the humiliation of walking out in public in your pajamas," Lysander commented thoughtlessly as the Scamander twins reached them, Lorcan's face twisted up guiltily, "I mean, assuming they were taken and by students and not Mushanons. They're invisible trolls who feed off cloth."

"Don't see why you're upset," Elm commented casually in passing with a cruel smirk, "Last I checked, dogs don't need to wear clothes. Filthy mongrels don't deserve to pretend they're people, Sanford should be ashamed."

Scorpius hadn't realized he'd moved to punch Elm until he felt his fist collide with the Ravenclaw's jaw, Elm staggered back. Scorpius was filled with rage and didn't regret it, he didn't like Elm and this time was very aware as he cocked his fist back for a second blow. Elm ducked so Scorpius grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall, keeping him in place to ensure the next blow met its target. He raised his fist again but felt someone pull him back, finding it to be Corin.

"Corin, let me go!" Scorpius snapped at him angrily but Corin didn't budge.

"I'm going to release him in five so I suggest you aren't here by then, one-" Corin started to say but Elm didn't need telling twice, he bolted and only then did Corin let him go, "Bigger fish."

"Bigger fish, he-"

"It was just announced on the wireless, Egypt fell to the Shadows," Maurice spoke up from behind his towering friend, looking grim and in a second, Scorpius did too.

"Come on, Hugo, my Father will sort this out," Corin offered to Hugo behind him, the red-head nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

"I'll help," Lorcan insisted stupidly and followed them, Lysander stayed to watch them with interest.

"That's three countries now?" Lysander queried and Maurice nodded, the blond sighed sadly, "They're dropping faster than Fire Beetles in Antarctica. You know, because Fire Beetles need heat and Antarctica is cold-"

"We get it," Scorpius interjected Lysander nodded, he turned to leave before pausing abruptly.

"You- You don't think they'll be coming here next, do you?" Lysander questioned anxiously, "That would be very bad for Lorcan. He's already very high-strung, he walks me to everywhere because he's scared they'll try to kill me."

"I don't know," Maurice admitted and Lysander left with an uncharacteristically worried expression, "It would be bad for the whole country if they do, it'll be easy pickings when everyone's too busy fighting amongst themselves about werewolves to stop them."

For once, Maurice may have been wrong. The news of the Shadows taking Egypt actually did put a damper on the werewolf hate, it gave people something else to talk about at least and fear replaced anger. Or at least diminished it somewhat. Scorpius was glad for the slight reprieve leading into the next week, it gave him a chance to refocus on his subjects – this was especially good considering Michael's depressive withdrawal extended to classes. He struggled to focus and pay attention, he nearly blew himself in Alchemy. Scorpius hadn't really spoken to Rojer since the forest, he'd been busy with Michael. Not that Rojer seemed to mind or give any indication that anything remotely noteworthy had happened between them, he'd also stopped his animagi training for the same reason. And maybe a little - just a little - because he was terrified of losing his mind.

Scorpius was helping Michael a lot with the classwork, his Dyslexia also kept him behind on homework so he was slow to do anything. He was spending twice as much time helping Michael with his homework as he was his own, Abby and Albus lacked the studiousness to help, Maurice was focused on the Shadow assassin and protecting the Scamanders, the others were too young and Rose… Rose seemed oddly reluctant to help him, always claiming to be too busy. In fact, if he didn't know any better then he'd say she was avoiding Michael.

At any rate, he didn't have time to dwell on that and was glad for more time as well as in general because it was wrong. Now they knew Hugo was also being targeted, they could try stick up for him too but he had a feeling the poor kid was worse off. Michael at least had a lot of friends around him all the time but Hugo didn't, his friends were either in different years or different houses so he had to go his own way more often and alone meant more likely to be targeted. He knew the staff had been made aware of his roommates but he wasn't sure what was being done about it, he'd been meaning to ask but he hadn't seen Hugo.

There was also another reason it was good: Quidditch. The Gryffindor versus Slytherin match was that weekend, Scorpius showered his team in practices to try prepare them despite the increasingly colder temperatures as Novemeber neared its end. Even Michael's Quidditch performance was being affected by his unhappiness, he seemed a bit off his game but he still seemed more focused then usual these days and Scorpius thought it was one of the few things that could take his mind off his werewolf issues. He wanted to win, not just for himself but because he thought it might be good for Michael, a win might warm at least the Gryffindors back up to Michael since he was their star Chaser. Plus on n a personal level, maybe it would help Michael to get a win to feel like a victor, to succeed, to focus on some aspect of his life other than his condition. Winning might be harder said than done though, Slytherin were good and he really wasn't sure how his Captainship compared to Grozda Krum. He supposed time would tell.

* * *

**Part 3: **Out

* * *

The day of the match finally came and Scorpius felt himself unusually wracked with nerves, it was his first game as Captain after all. Michael won the award for most anxious before a game though, his stress driving him to lose his dinner the night before and whatever remnants had been left before breakfast. Scorpius allowed Michael to not eat, he was looking green enough as he sat there shivering silently with his face in his hands.

"You okay, buddy?" Albus asked him anxiously and patted the taller boy's shoulder.

"Just nervous about playing in front of everyone," Michael mumbled into his hands, "More than usual since everyone hates me and all. Not that I blame them."

They finished breakfast and Scorpius led his team down to the lockers, Michael still looking equal chance as likely to vomit as he was to get on his broom and play. He thought it felt oddly empty without Molly, she'd always been there. He also thought it felt strangely quiet, everyone was just sitting around nervously or pacing wildly in Rufus Rhett's case, Roxy was trying to comfort Michael who sat clinging to a bucket as if expecting to hurl again. It dawned on Scorpius why, Molly had given a speech before matches and now she was gone. And he was the Captain, he was supposed to be the one building up their morale.

"Okay team!" Scorpius said with more confidence then he felt, swinging his fist as he stood and the six pairs of eyes turned to him. Now _he_ felt nervous again, he cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly, "So this is our first match! This year. Against Slytherin. They are a good team, supposedly have found a new talented Seeker, led by the daughter of a world famous Quidditch star-"

"Who is my girlfriend," Albus offered proudly, "She's the greatest."

"Are you _trying_ to make us feel worse?" Montague the new Chaser wondered, looking rather worried and Scorpius' cheeks tinged crimson.

"No, of course not," Scorpius insisted, "If you'd let me finish, I was going to say it doesn't matter who she is because she's not her father and our team is pretty good too."

"Only pretty good?"

"Very good?"

"Very good isn't great through, is it?" Kemen Arkaitz, the new Beater, spoke up.

"Very good is _very_ good."

"But it's not as good as great."

"Well who said they were great?" Scorpius demanded in irritation.

"Al did," Rufus pointed out.

"Well my point is that we can beat them!" Scorpius snapped in frustration, he jabbed his finger at the exit, "So get out there and let's win this!"

"Err… Aren't you supposed to walk out first though?" Rufus questioned curiously and Scorpius sighed heavily.

"You're not good at inspiring people, are you?" Montague wondered with an eyebrow rising.

Scorpius decided to give up for the day and just went over ready to walk out, little Rufus Rhett the replacement Keeper standing nervously by his side. They went out as usual onto the pitch, Scorpius finding it felt weird to be the first one out. He also noticed the cheering seemed diminished and… and was that booing? Boos were drowning out the cheers and it only took him a second to realize why, at least if the banner of a snake devouring a wolf's head was anything to go by. They were booing because of Michael. He also got another surprise when he noticed a familiar face on the Slytherin team: Lorcan Scamander.

"Lorcan? You're their new Seeker?" Scorpius couldn't help blurting out in shock.

"Well you guys suggested I get a hobby…" Lorcan pointed out sheepishly.

"Captains, shake hands!" Krum – the Flying Instructor who would also act as referee – barked, effectively ending their discussion.

Grozda stepped forward and Scorpius stupidly started to wonder why Molly was taking so long before recalling he was the Captain, he hoped the slight delay in his movement went unnoticed. He stepped forward and clasped the bony hand the sallow-skinned Grozda offered, her expression was deathly serious and her shake extremely firm. They walked back to their respective spots, he caught Albus trying not to smile at his girlfriend and resisted the urge to roll his eyes as they mounted their brooms. The equally sallow-skinned Krum released the balls, threw the Quaffle into the air and the game launched into action.

Literally, Michael drove straight in and tore off with the Quaffle before anyone else could grab it. Grozda tried to tackle it off him when she'd caught up but he passed with perfect timing to Montague who tossed it through the unguarded – the Keeper hadn't gotten into position yet – hoop, securing Gryffindor the first point of the match. And it was far from the last. Michael was on fire, he streamed through the skies and scored goal after goal. The new Slytherin Keeper wasn't as good as the old one, combined with the fact Albus had improved and Montague was proving to be a good replacement to Latimer gave them the advantage as it rested on the Chasers to keep the Quaffle away much more. Rufus Rhett had been trained well by Molly and was also serving well as Keeper, much better the Slytherin, three times better if the score was anything to go by. The Slytherin Beaters were good but Roxy and Kemen were also proving to be a good team, keeping each other occupied.

Scorpius felt really quite proud of his team, it would take a Snitch catch for Slytherin to win. Which made him feel rather bad for not catching it yet, he felt like he was the only one of his team not pulling his weight and Lorcan wasn't doing much better. It was a cloudy day but still quite visible yet the Snitch was being quite elusive, the only time either of them saw it was from a distance and had lost sight of it in the chaos of the Chasers long before drawing close enough for it to matter. And kept on going, the minutes were seeping into hours. Finally, Scorpius caught sight of it when it started to rain when he caught a glimpse of gold above him. Thankfully, out of the way of the Chasers.

Scorpius didn't hesitate before shooting towards it, however Lorcan had seen it too and also bolted. For a second he was confident, he was closer than Lorcan but the younger boy was also on a newer, faster broom due to Scorpius' refusal to give up his _The Dart_ broom for sentimental value. Lorcan reached him as he was closing in on the Snitch, he swiped at it but Lorcan's broom pushed him ahead and his fingers brushed it first. The small golden ball fell into Lorcan's smaller hands, the Slytherin grinned at his victory and just for a moment he looked like his happier, carefree twin.

"And Scamander catches the Snitch!" the female commentator whose name he didn't know and commentary he didn't pay attention to called out but her next words shocked them both, "Too bad it's too late, Gryffindor wins 230 to 220 thanks to the last goal by an impressive last goal Michael Sanford."

"Well… Well done," Scorpius offered awkwardly to the younger boy while Lorcan's face fell, "Good catch."

"In the end it didn't even matter," Lorcan scoffed bitterly.

Scorpius opened his mouth to say something comforting but in that moment, Lorcan's broom jerked abruptly and his body was thrown clean off. He tried to grab the broom but it slipped right through his fingers and he started to drop like a stone, Scorpius dove after him to try help. He tried to catch Lorcan but the boy's terror at being touched kicked in, he screamed and there was a burst of light that flung Scorpius off his broom, sending him spiraling. He considering transforming but it was too late.

In the next instance his body hit the ground, which was surprisingly soft and bouncy like a cross between a cushion and a trampoline. He bounced back into the air from the force he the ground at before finally landing, it was grass though and now regular ground again. He glanced over and saw Lorcan lying a few feet away, the Slytherin scrambling for his wand and looking around in panic as his amber eyes filled with tears. He seemed unharmed though, presumably the bouncy ground had applied to him as well. Lorcan started crawling over to him quickly while their brooms dropped at different places near the.

"I-I'm sorry," Lorcan apologized, his face and voice both riddled with guilt as tears spilled from his eyes as he started shaking, "I'm so sorry, Scorpius, I'm so sorry. I c-couldn't even handle touch to save my life, I'm so sorry. Are you alright? I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Scorpius brushed it off, understanding even if he felt really shaken, "I don't blame you. I blame this assassin."

"Scorpius!" Michael cried as he landed, practically jumping off his broom to get to the normal ground, "Lorcan! Are you okay!?"

"We're okay," Scorpius assured his friend as the others started landing.

"What in the bloody hell was that?!" Albus demanded of no one in particular.

"Lorcan's broom just threw him off, someone must've cursed it. Probably the same someone who went after Lysander twice, screwed up the Wolfsbane and poisoned me."

"I really hate that person!" Albus yelled angrily as people started pouring onto the pitch.

"Are you two okay?!" Professor Ashain demanded as he reached him first, Scorpius also caught sight of his friends, other staff – not Rojer – and a few other faces he recognized, Martha's face was stained by tears.

"We're okay," Lorcan offered and hastily wiped his eyes, "Did- Did you save us?"

"My son did, our magic wasn't working. Got to love those accidental underage magic usages," Professor Ashain explained and clapped his son on the back affectionately, giving him a proud smile. Antonius didn't seem to notice though, his young face white and his expression anxiety ridden as he eyed the crowd. Scorpius knew what the boy was thinking, the assassin was still out there.

* * *

_Xerxes found himself rather enjoying his new position. His living quarters were nicer than his British apartment, the pay was better, the work was doable, he saw more of Stephan and Ethan being in training gave him more free time to himself while still being able to see the boy. He also found Jada was apparently having a hard time letting him go, she wrote love letters to him frequently and begged him to come back. Being the kind person he was, he obliged. He did return to England every few weeks to see Carver, it wasn't hard to arrange to meet her too when he made time to look for women again now that he finally had the time. Jada was kind of boring but easy or at least he thought, she started asking him if he wanted her to leave her husband for him and assuring him she was really quite willing to do that. He kept refusing, he didn't love her and had no intention of marrying her so leaving her husband was quite pointless. He really underestimated her tenacity though._

_"I'm pregnant," Jada announced to him when he was in England for Carver's second birthday, Xerxes could only blink in shock._

_"I guess this means you're definitely staying with your husband then?" Xerxes guessed in confusion, if she was ending it with him then she seemed strangely cheerful and he didn't see why she'd think he'd be happy for her pregnancy. He wasn't unhappy, he just didn't give a damn if it had nothing to do with him._

_"It's yours, my husband hasn't touched me in months."_

_"But I-I was careful?" Xerxes stammered out in shock, he was quite sure he had been. _

_"I know, I countered the spell," Jada told him casually and smiled, "Now I'm pregnant with your baby, I have to leave my husband and we can be together, be a family."_

_"I'm not marrying you," Xerxes scoffed determinedly and her face fell, "I already have three children and I didn't marry their mothers, I'll support you financially and be involved in raising them but we won't be doing it as a couple."_

_"But I love you."_

_"Well I don't love you, I never said I did," Xerxes pointed out quite truthfully while she started crying._

_"I left my husband for you!" Jada sobbed as she buried her face I her hands._

_"Well that was stupid of you," Xerxes stated as he stood to leave, she wasn't going to sleep with him when she was all upset and angry so he figured he'd leave. It wasn't like it was his fault she was upset, he hadn't told her to sabotage his contraceptive spells and leave her husband. It was her own dumb choices, "I'll be in touch when you've talked about this with your husband and in advance, I'd recommend Viola for a girl. Andreas, Aldous or Everard are my top picks for a boy."_

_Xerxes didn't feel as happy about this pregnancy as the others, mostly because it had been deliberate on her part but he did get more excited when that discomfort eased with time. Jada's husband kicked her out and she was forced to stay with her family, she stopped sending him love letters. It really got him thinking though, she'd left her husband just like his mother had left his father and he didn't think he agreed with that. In a marriage, he thought people should stay together and stay loyal, if they didn't then they shouldn't be getting married in the first place. This was probably why he doubted he would ever get married. And if he was going to marry any of his children's mothers then it would have been Edythe without question, but she was dead, he still missed her sometimes._

_The whole thing got him thinking of his own mother a lot though again, he hadn't seen her in over twenty years now. He was onto his fourth child and his mother had never met any of her grandchildren, did she even care? And so he decided to use his extra free time to start looking for her again, he asked some of the other staff for help or advice and it turned out to be far more productive then he could've hoped. Within a week, one of them came back to him with an address. He'd found his mother._

* * *

Everyone was on edge in the wake of another attempt, it was getting ridiculous. Maurice now had to cover the bases of both Scamanders since both were definitely targets, he also objected to Scorpius going anywhere alone in case attention ever turned back to him since he'd been the first target. Whenever he saw Lorcan, the poor boy's head would never stop swiveling and his wand hand twitching in readiness for attack. He didn't look like he was sleeping either, the bags beneath his eyes were black and his eyes bloodshot. On the bright side, the win from Michael seemed to have eased the prejudice a bit more amongst Gryffindors at least. It was something and the attempt seemed to ease Michael out of his shell a bit more, if only so he could worry about it so he still remained rather unhappy. He wasn't sleeping much either, Scorpius heard him tossing and turning, once he even woke up sobbing.

November eased into December and with it came the first flakes of the year, the Black Lake became a sheet of ice and the grass covered by a snuggly blanket of soft snow. Scorpius supposed he should count himself lucky that the icy weather had only hit after the Quidditch match as opposed to before, Professor Hagrid took the weather as a perfect opportunity to showcase some of the creatures who lived in the colder environments and Professor Longbottom did the same for plants so there was no reprieve from the weather. The start of December also meant the next full moon was drawing near, Hugo and Scorpius' first since their respective transformations. Professor Vipera had taken it upon herself to make the Wolfsbane with her own two hands and giving it to them in person, ensuring that there was no chance of it being tampered with. He knew Michael was still paranoid though and Hugo walked around as pale as one of the ghosts, Scorpius himself was anxious about it.

He hadn't attempted transforming since losing his mind after all, whenever he thought about it his stomach tied up in knots at the thought of a repeat of the process. He knew he shouldn't put it off, the more he practiced it the sooner he mastered it and then he wouldn't have to worry about it at all yet still he was afraid. And he knew he shouldn't be, he'd done it to be there for Michael and he wanted to be whatever Michael thought. He also had the challenge of Marigold, he had bravely agreed to keep watch over them despite being mauled by Michael and Scorpius didn't want anyone to know of his ability. The Aurors were taking precaution though, they'd be there to make sure they transformed with their minds before returning to their posts. Despite himself, Scorpius did feel a sliver of pity for the Aurors who did guard outside even in the poor weather. The week of the full moon though, there was a surprising development and it was not about werewolves at all but rather the assassin.

"I know who the assassin is," Maurice told him abruptly when Scorpius was on his way back to the Common Room after finishing some homework in Library, Scorpius stopped in his tracks to look at the approaching boy in shock, "I was just with Cassia-"

"Why with Cassia?" Scorpius wondered in surprise.

"I'm still teaching her Occlumency like last year, she can do it but I'm not stopping until she is a Master Occlumens. Besides, it doesn't hurt to practice especially considering her young age," Maurice explained quickly, "And we also use the sessions now to work out who the assassin is, I told you she's been tracking everyone and today she revealed the name of the girl you helped on the train."

"It's not Martha."

"Oh but it is, didn't you know her last name is _Seneca?"_ Maurice said very firmly, looking at him expectantly as if the name was supposed to mean something. Scorpius just looked at him in confusion, the name sounded vaguely familiar but didn't ring any bells of alarm, "Did I emphasize it wrong? Her name is Martha Seneca."

"So what?"

"So, her father is Xerxes Seneca," Maurice told him and again Scorpius drew a blank, Maurice looked incredibly frustrated, "Xerxes was a Shadow! He's Pyrrhus Florian's half-brother, Viola Kalya and Carver Edwards' father! She's a Shadow as well, Cassia says she's extremely talented at Defense Against the Dark Arts. She's been trained just like they were, she's a Shadow just like they are and she has to be the one trying to kill you."

"But Martha's a good kid," Scorpius insisted, finding it hard to believe the poor girl was secretly the assassin, "She's a Hufflepuff."

"And? Viola was a Slytherin, Carver was a Gryffindor, if he gets a Ravenclaw then he'll have hit the quadfecta! The girl is a Shadow and she's trying to kill you."

"She watches most of the practices, why did she wait until the game to jinx a broom if she's trying to kill me?"

"I don't know, let's ask her."

"We don't where she is," Scorpius pointed out but Maurice was already nonverbally summoning the Marauder's Map from his pocket, "Maurice don't, I'm sure she's good."

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Maurice stated as he tapped the map, he glanced at it before handing it to Scorpius and stalking off, "I'm just going to talk to her."

"Maurice!" Scorpius hissed as he shoved it back in his pocket and chased after the younger boy, trying to grab his arm to get his attention. Maurice looked but didn't stop, "She's an eleven year old kid not-"

"You realize I'm still deaf, right? I don't know what you're saying and I don't care, this girl is guilty. I know it."

"Maurice," Scorpius said stupidly, trying to physically yank him back to force him to use his necklace to listen.

"Hey Martha! We want to talk to you!" Maurice bellowed suddenly and Scorpius glanced up in surprise, noticing Martha walking down with Auriga Koray while the deaf boy put a hand to his necklace.

"She's a white soul," Scorpius pointed out in an annoyed whisper while Auriga seemed to do the same to Martha except not in annoyance.

"Just because she hasn't killed yet, it doesn't mean she isn't trying."

"Okay, I'll catch up with you later," Martha said finally to Auriga, the girls waving in farewell as they parted with Martha moving over to them and Auriga heading on down the stairs, "What is it?"

Before Scorpius could react, Maurice grabbed her roughly and pulled her through the nearest door. Scorpius scrambled after them, finding an empty classroom while Maurice slammed Martha against the wall with one hand and aimed his wand at her neck with the other. The pairs of gray eyes in the room both widened in shock while Maurice let go of her to grab his necklace, he flicked his wand at the door and it locked before turning it back to her neck.

"I know who you are and I know what you did!" Maurice yelled at her angrily, "You're Xerxes Seneca's daughter, you're a Shadow! Why are you trying to kill Scorpius and the Scamanders?!"

"Let her go! You said you were just going to talk to her," Scorpius insisted indignantly.

"I am just talking to her!" Maurice snapped, sparing him an angry look before returning his attention to the small girl, "Now answer me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Martha whispered fearfully.

"_Crucio!"_

Maurice blasted the girl with the Unforgivable Curse, moving his translator hand to hold her back in place to stop her falling to the ground. Instead she was pinned against the wall, writhing and screaming in agony. Scorpius jumped in without hesitation, grabbing Maurice and forcefully throwing him off her while Martha crumpled to the ground in tears.

"NO!" Scorpius yelled at him furiously, refusing to allow the torture of an eleven year old who he still didn't think was guilty. He turned back to Martha and helped the shaking girl to her feet, the residual effects of the curse still rippling through her, "Are you okay?"

"I-" Martha started to answer but Maurice grabbed her from him again, shoving her back against the wall and aiming his wand again but this time with a different spell.

"_Legilimens!"_ Maurice cast, narrowing his eyes but Martha squeezed hers shut and a second later Maurice was pushed back, "You're an Occlumens?!"

"My Father is Xerxes Seneca, of course I'm an Occlumens!" Martha yelled back and leaned weakly back against the wall, breathing heavily while Maurice grabbed his necklace.

"So you admit it?!" Maurice snapped triumphantly while Scorpius could only watch the unfolding scene in shock, "You're Xerxes Seneca's child?"

"Yes I am," Martha affirmed, looking slightly more sure of herself, "But so what?"

"He's a Shadow."

"He's dead."

"You were trained."

"So were you," Martha countered fiercely although she still shook from the after effects of the curse, "But you got out and so did I, I never even got around to taking the Test. I'm not a Shadow, I'm nothing to do with them anymore. I'm just trying to live a normal life away from all that pain and brainwashing, just like you are."

"I don't believe you," Maurice told her firmly while Scorpius found he did, she'd just admitted to the family connection and her words sounded genuine, "It's too much of a coincidence, you're trying to kill them. I know it, I just don't know why."

"I'm not trying to kill Scorpius and I've never even met the Scamanders."

"I don't believe you."

"Well I do," Scorpius spoke up and tore open the door, he took Martha's hand to lead her out while Maurice narrowed his eyes darkly, "And we're done here."

"Thank you," Martha offered quietly as they left.

"I'm sorry about that," Scorpius told her apologetically as she stared down at her shoes.

"It's okay, I'm used to being tortured. Its part of our training," Martha explained calmly while in contrast looked rather upset, "Not a part I miss."

"Well it's over now," Scorpius assured her and rubbed her shoulder gently, she glanced at him solemnly.

"I wish it were over."

* * *

Martha Seneca crept down the vacant halls of Hogwarts, it was dark now and way past curfew. She wasn't concerned though, if she got caught then Auriga would just have her father get her off. She had been in the Ravenclaw Common Room working on a big homework project with her anyway, despite sometimes taking advantage of her father's teacher status she genuinely wanted to impress him with her work. Martha found it all rather easy, being in schooling since the day she turned two seemed to have given her an unfair advantage in Hogwarts. Not that she minded, it freed her mind up to focus on her task. Her horrible, horrible task.

She sighed heavily, it was the full moon and exactly a month ago she had tried to use to kill the Scamanders with Michael. He was nice enough but he was suspicious of her, at best she'd hoped he'd be expelled out the way or at least distracted by what he'd done. That had gone badly. Just like all her other attempts. And now Maurice suspected her, quite rightly. And Scorpius didn't, she felt guilty that he had so much faith in her innocence and quite sick with herself if she could lie that well. She didn't want to kill Scorpius, he was so good to her, so kind and sweet and so handsome… You shouldn't develop crushes on people you were supposed to kill, that was why you shouldn't really date or think about that stuff.

It's not like she'd chosen to feel that way though and now it just made it harder, she'd put off killing him to focus on the Scamanders because she kept chickening out. She'd have to eventually, she'd have to betray that faith and trust. She truly did feel sick to her stomach about it, she lay awake at night with her stomach churning and her mind wracked by guilt. And that was when she wasn't crying for her dead father and the fact she was aiding his killer, her own uncle who she also cared about. She had to kill the Scamanders first though which Scorpius seemed averse too, it wasn't like she had anything against them except maybe Lorcan for nearly killing Scorpius too. They just had to die, Carver said it was the only way to end the Shadow Master and the war with it.

What were a few lives and her own torment about it to end the war? The Shadows had already broken Ethan, how long before it destroyed Carver, Andreas, Davin and Rocio's spirits too? Or else they actually became brainwashed into loyalty like Stephan and Viola? Xerxes junior and the unborn one would surely be thrown into the Training Tower when they were old enough too. The war had to end, it had to end if she was to save her family. No matter what. She was torn from her thoughts by a sound, she froze and spun expecting a Prefect but saw no one. Her cloudy eyes skimmed the darkness but nothing, she reluctantly started to walk on but stayed alert. She heard a sound again, this time unmistakably a spell being cast.

"_Protego!"_ Martha cried and slammed up a shield in the direction of the noise, her shield caught the spell but it was shattered and the force still blew her back into an empty room while her attacker followed, "_Lumos! Petrificus Totalis!"_

The first spell lit up her wand to see in the gloom, however her attacker was wearing all black and had his face covered by a mask like a ninja. He leaped out of the way of her spell and raised his wand, she was faster though.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Martha cast and with practiced perfection.

The spell hit the attacker and sent his wand soaring while the man himself fell back. Or boy, he was lanky and teen-sized which was backed up by the fact he'd had to speak a spell to attack her in the first place. He didn't know non-verbal magic yet and being slower than her meant he hadn't been trained, it wasn't Maurice. Did the Shadows have someone within Hogwarts? She didn't know, she didn't even know how they'd figure her out. She approached the downed boy cautiously, trying not to show her anxiety or fear and kept her wand aimed on him.

"Who are you? Why did you attack me?" Martha demanded and abruptly the boy jerked his leg.

Martha was taken by surprise as her legs were swept out from under her, she still had her wand but the boy lunged on her before she'd had the chance to use it. He was stronger than her, he ripped her wand away and threw it. She started to focus on wandless magic to get him off her but he smashed his fist into her face, her head thudded painfully against the stone but she spotted his wand lying nearby. She tried to reach it but he was already scrambling for it, his arms were longer and within seconds he was now straddling her with a wand in her face. She tried to refocus but he muttered a spell, the world went black.

She blinked a few times but the world stayed black, he'd blinded her. She started to panic, she couldn't use wandless magic if she couldn't see. And then she felt him hit her, again and again, again and again. Her head continued to throb after he stopped and she heard a scraping sound, metal dragging across stone. There was a second's silence before she something cold and sharp stabbed into her shoulder, she screamed in pain.

"Oh, what's the matter? Does that hurt?!" the attacker snapped, "Don't like it when someone's hurting you, huh?! But you're fine with trying to kill innocent people who've done nothing wrong, Lorcan's been through enough and dragging Michael into it like that was _sick_! You're sick, you're a sick person! You evil, heartless bitch!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Martha whispered fearfully, tasting the salty blood in her mouth as she spoke and screamed again as she felt the blade tearing through her flesh.

"I don't like sick people and neither do the Soul Eaters," the attacker hissed and she felt her trickling blood run suddenly colder as her heart ran faster, "That's right, the Soul Eaters. They also don't like it when people try to kill those the Master wants to live. You're going to tell me why, you're going to tell me who, you're going to tell me _everything _and then maybe I'll be kind enough to end your agony. You've been trained to resist the Cruciatus Curse but can you resist _this_?"

The blade ripped through her arm once more and Martha screamed in agony into the silent night.

* * *

**Part 4: **Morbid Interest

* * *

The night of the full moon, Scorpius finally worked up the courage to try transforming again. Even if he wasn't sure he could get to Michael, he really needed to because Wyatt had mentioned losing your progress if you didn't do it. It also meant enlisting his friends help to make sure he could be turned back, forcing him to speak to Maurice who he was still rather annoyed with for confronting Martha and Albus for the Invisibility Cloak. There was no way he would be turning into a Thestral while their dorm mates slept, it was too big and risky. Albus opted to come along as well so the pair were under the cloak, Maurice chose to use a Disillusionment Charm instead. A good one, Scorpius couldn't see him at all.

"I still can't believe you waited a month to tell me about how you actually transformed," Albus complained at him once they'd safely reached their destination.

They called it the Room That Didn't Exist, also known as the Room of Requirement which could adapt to the user's wishes. It was currently a large space with a handful of comfortable chairs for Albus and Maurice to sit on plus a fireplace to keep them warm against the cold night, the deaf boy removed his charm as they threw off the cloak.

"I just didn't want to talk about it," Scorpius brushed it off, still uncomfortable at the thought of losing his mind, "Rojer saved me anyway."

"Why didn't Rojer say anything?" Albus wondered as he settle down in one of the chairs along with Maurice, the latter putting a hand to his necklace to gaze around solemnly.

"I don't know, I don't think he really cared."

"I'm surprised you aren't freaking out that he's saved you twice now and you killed Ashylos."

"Well I finally told him about it."

"And you didn't think to mention that either?!" Albus burst out, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"I thought you all wanted me to _stop_ talking about Rojer?" Scorpius wondered incredulously.

"It still would've been nice to know the conclusion of your obsession, what happened? How did he react?"

"He err… He forgave me. He has his own guilt issues about Ashylos' death though."

"Told you," Maurice said smugly with a smirk, "Was I right about him being captured and tortured about Grindelwald's men too?"

"Yes," Scorpius grudgingly admitted and Maurice fist pumped the air, "But it's not how his leg was crippled, he got that in a Nazi concentration camp."

"What's that?"

"Mother of Merlin, stop the presses! A momentous event has occurred, Maurice Rivers doesn't know something! That's right people, the boy doesn't know!" Albus exclaimed in mock shock, Maurice threw him a scowl.

"Do you know what it is?"

"No," Albus scoffed and slouched lazily into his chair was he withdrew a brown bag, "But I'm not an all-knowing genius like you are."

"I'm not an all-knowing genius," Maurice insisted while Albus withdrew a hand of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth, "Are you eating popcorn?"

"One of my best mates is turning into a Thestral, I think it's a popcorn worthy event and I wouldn't miss it," Albus said through a mouthful of popcorn while Scorpius sat on the floor, putting the spells on himself in readiness, "Feels like ages since we were in this room, doesn't it?"

"No, I go here twice a week with Cassia," Maurice told him and looked slightly surprised, "Don't you take Grozda here? It's the perfect place for some privacy for… you know."

"Grozda's way too busy with NEWTs and Quidditch practices to hang out with me, the most I can do is to keep sending her things to show I still care. I'll tell you, having a girlfriend is expensive especially in winter when you can't even pick flowers. I tried to ask Abby for help getting flowers and she got all mad at me for no reason, I blame Pentakel," Albus informed them before frowning at Maurice, "What do you mean by 'you know' anyway?"

"You know."

"If I knew then I wouldn't have asked."

"Can we please just focus? You're supposed to be helping me with my animagus training," Scorpius interrupted irritably as he finished with the spells, he effectively drew the attention of both boys back though.

"Go for it, Scor," Albus offered encouragingly as he shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Scorpius focused and just like before, he felt his entire body morphing into a Thestral. He thought it was more painful than last time, although admittedly the injuries from Michael had probably taken away from it. He transformed all the same though, gazing at his friends' souls as Albus whooped with delight and clapped before Scorpius felt his body shifting back already into his human form.

"That was awesome!" Albus exclaimed excitedly while Maurice frowned.

"Why am I here if you can just turn back?" Maurice complained.

"In case I get stuck like I did before," Scorpius insisted and Maurice sighed, he gestured for him to carry on though while Albus continued stuffing his face with popcorn.

Scorpius transformed a few more times, turning into a Thestral every time but thankfully keeping his mind before bouncing back into his human form. After a while though, he started to notice a very distinct smell coming from somewhere outside the room. Blood. As a Thestral, he found himself very drawn to investigate it and as a human, concerned.

"What's wrong?" Albus queried after Scorpius stayed as a Thestral for longer than usual, ignoring the urge to turn back seemed to have repressed it.

"I smell blood," Scorpius told them, "We have to check it out, I'll turn back into a Thestral and then you guys follow me."

"Okay," Maurice agreed while Albus put aside his bag of popcorn.

Scorpius transformed his now aching body once more into a Thestral and trotted over to the door, his friends followed and Maurice opened it for him. With the door open, the smell was much stronger and he headed off at a slight canter while his friends ran slowly after him. If someone was in danger, they'd die by the time the three reached them. When he got to the Grand Staircase, he jumped and spread his wings to glide down to the correct floor and gallop where his nose was leading him, he had to get there.

He found the correct door and glanced back for his friends but they were far behind him now, instead he rose up on his hind legs and kicked down the door with his front ones. He was met with the sight of dark, masked figure leaning over a small, bloody body with a crimson knife in his hand. The assailant had a white soul and seemed surprised to see him – or if he couldn't see Thestrals then the door being knocked down – and hastily ran, Scorpius reared up again to jump on him but the boy threw himself out of the way.

He was already scrambling to his feet into a run and Scorpius was about to go after him but he was distracted as the victim's head lolled in his direction, it was Martha and she was already lying in a pool of blood. He was very torn, he didn't need to be a healing expert to know she needed help and might die if he went after her attacker but then if he didn't, the attacker would probably get away. Why did his friends have to run so slowly?! Scorpius irritably decided on life and charged in to Martha, the scent of blood quite alluring to his Thestral instincts. He wanted to change back and for a wonder, he actually did.

* * *

_It took Xerxes several days to work up the courage to go to see his mother, he apparated to the street she lived on but it took him several more days of staring at the grubby apartment block and walking up to the door before he finally had the courage to knock. He'd spent so long without his mother, wondering how she was and what he would say when he saw her, what she would say and what she would think of him. But now he actually had the chance and the door was right in front of him, he found himself wrought with nerves with his stomach twisting and untwisting into various knots. He didn't know how he felt or what he expected but he finally couldn't wait anymore._

_Hecate didn't live in a nice place, the front door was falling off its hinges and the lock broken already. Inside was even worse, the stench of urine was so overpowering it made his nostrils want to shrivel up. The walls were all graffitied or stained or both, discarded garbage littered the halls. Rats were gnawing on some of it and didn't seem the slightest bit concerned by the presence of a human moving through their territory, he saw some cockroaches scattering though. Xerxes felt rather disgusted and dirty just from being there, his crisp, clean clothes felt very out of place. Did people really live here? Did his mother really? She'd come from such a wealthy family and now she lived in his dump? He shook his head and continued on to get to her door, the wood was rotting and the number had fallen off the door, leaving behind a number shaped space a lighter shade then the rest of the door. He wrapped on it._

_"It's open!" a hoarse female voice called and Xerxes nervously pushed the door open with his sweating hands, finding the handle so loose he feared it would fall off._

_Xerxes wasn't sure what he was expecting but he found the room bare, it was a small room with ratty floorboards and no furniture beyond a single mattress wedged in the corner under the window. There was a door opposite in as poor condition as the entrance, beyond he caught a glimpse of what looked like a bathroom. There was a woman lying on the mattress, a frail, skeletal thing with violet eyes sunken into a gaunt, once beautiful face, her red hair dull and dirty. She clutched a threadbare blanket around herself and had a clothes helping prop her up her ragged pillow, there was a cardboard box by the mattress as if in place of a bedside table upon which rested her wand. His mother._

_"Well? What the hell do you want?" Hecate demanded of him in the same rasping voice, eyes narrowing on him sharply._

_"Don't you recognize your own son?" Xerxes spat at her in his mother tongue for the first time in a long time, feeling a blade of hurt and anger piercing his hurt while she broke into a horrific cough. He closed the door behind himself and approached her, she squinted at him when the coughing fit as passed._

_"Xerxes?" Hecate wondered weakly while her bulged in surprise, he nodded, "Look how big you got."_

_"Of course I got bigger, it's been twenty-one years. And six months," Xerxes snapped rather testily as she leaned back, still ogling him, "Not that I'm counting."_

_"That long, huh?"_

_"Yes, that long. Don't you pay attention to the time?"_

_"My mind's going, Xerxes, I can't keep track of much these days," Hecate admitted and started coughing again._

_"You're not that old, don't play the senile card," Xerxes barked at her indignantly as the fit passed._

_"It's not because I'm old, it's because I'm sick. You're lucky you caught me on a good day," Hecate pointed out testily, "And from your tone, I'm guessing you aren't too happy with me."_

_"You left me!" Xerxes yelled at her before he could stop himself, tears pricking his yes, "I was your son and you left me! No cards, no letters, no contact, you just walked away like I was a bad one night stand!"_

_"Oh get over it already, it was twenty-one and a half years ago apparently," Hecate brushed it off with a roll of her eyes and another cough, tears leaked from his eyes._

_"Don't you care? Don't you care at all?"_

_"At all? Yeah. But if you're going to stand there blubbering like a baby just because Mummy and Daddy didn't love you enough as a child, don't expect sympathy. Get over yourself, go grab a beer and shove your dick in someone, whatever makes you happy, move on. Don't be such a spoiled little brat, the world doesn't exist to serve you and newsflash: neither do your parents."_

_"I know that, you left and Dad threw me out," Xerxes pointed out bitterly as he blinked away tears, Hecate looked at him curiously, "You both abandoned me."_

_"What did you do?"_

_"I only had an affair with the Minister's wife," Xerxes admitted and Hecate laughed before it became another violent cough, "I don't see why he was mad at me, I wasn't the one married."_

_"That'll do it," Hecate prompted when it stopped, smiling in amusement, "Hektor always was a controlling, uptight prude, not that he was complaining when he was screwing me out of wedlock. I bet it threw you on your ass, eh? Found it harder without a house of servants I'll bet."_

_"I did okay for myself thank you very much, can't say the same for you," Xerxes snapped and gestured to the dump she lived in, her eyes flicked around before turning back to him without her smile._

_"Fair point," she conceded and paused to start coughing again, he patiently waited for it to pass, "I'm too sick to do anything now though and the guy I left your father for left me."_

_"What did you do?"_

_"I only cheated on him, once or twice," Hecate admitted testily and Xerxes found it was his turn to smile in amusement, "That he knew about anyway."_

_"Well I can see where I get it from."_

_"Wonder if your brother has got it too."_

_"What?" Xerxes wondered in shock as she burst into another fit of coughing, feeling rather like he'd just had cold water thrown on him, "What do you mean brother? You had another child?"_

_"You have a half-brother," Hecate told him, her raspy tone disinterested and her expression looking rather like she regretted saying anything while Xerxes looked around for signs of him, "He isn't here! I left him."_

_"You left him too?" Xerxes stated incredulously while she turned away in shame, he felt his anger returning, "For the love of… I have three kids and another on the way, all by different women and I haven't turned my back on a single one of them. You had two and you couldn't even stick around for one of us."_

_"I had to, okay?" Hecate snapped defensively, "After whatshisname left me, I had nothing and I wound up on the streets because I was too proud to work like a filthy commoner. I had to rely on the kindness of others and this one guy was always really generous with his donation, Linden Florian. He was always good to me and we got to talking, eventually we got to dating and he let me live with him. Nice enough guy, was fine with an open relationship too but he stayed faithful, was too busy with the son his wife had walked out on. All he wanted was more kids so I bore him a son as thanks, called him Pyrrhus because the first magic he did was fire. It was only then that I realized there was something horribly wrong with him?"_

_"What?" Xerxes wondered with an anxious curiosity._

_"He was a half-blood. Linden was a muggle, making Pyrrhus a half-blood," Hecate told him, sounding as if it was a horrible disease, "I'm a pure-blood from an ancient and noble pure-blood family, I couldn't be seen with such an impure child. So I left him, I'm sure Linden took good care of him, he was so happy to have another son. I ran back to Greece with my tail between my legs, my family disowned me anyway out of shame and your father had already remarried, didn't want me back either so I came back to England but stayed away from Linden and Pyrrhus."_

_"You didn't think to see me while you were there?!" Xerxes blurted out angrily._

_"You were away at magic school!" Hecate countered before bursting into another fit of coughing while Xerxes felt another sliver of anger but at a different target, his father and grandparents hadn't mentioned this. He was getting off point though, he had a brother. A brother who had also been abandoned, maybe he would have more in common with this Pyrrhus then with his father's two kids. He wanted to meet him._

_"How old is Pyrrhus?"_

_"I don't know," Hecate shrugged as the coughing fit passed, "Somewhere between ten and the mid-teens. Why?"_

_"Because I want to meet him," Xerxes told her seriously and she burst into another fit of coughing, "Seriously, what is wrong with you!?"_

_"I'm dying," Hecate croaked and he felt another wave of shock crash into him once more, "Its terminal and incurable, its destroying my brain so my mind is dying and so are my basic motor skills so it's hard to do things or even move very well, I also have this cough but my lungs are shot too."_

_"You-You- You're dying?" Xerxes repeated in shock and she scowled._

_"What are you deaf? Dying. Don't be so shocked, I've been dying for a while now and I'm okay with it. It's just a slow and painful process, a shitty end to a shitty life but I did have a few good times," Hecate told him casually while he continued to gape at her, "There's actually something you could do, you know to help me."_

_"What?"_

_"Kill me. It would be kinder and easier than this," Hecate pleaded and Xerxes couldn't deal with that in that moment, his mother, his half-brother, her dying… It was too much and he walked away to try process it, he needed time._

* * *

The smell of blood was much more sickening to his human senses, her face was completely battered as if it had taken a beating and her body riddled all over with more than two dozen knife wounds, holes and cuts and stabs. He also felt extremely disgusted and angry at her attacker, she was eleven years old. She was just a child, people shouldn't hurt children. Her chest was rising and falling though, indicating she still lived and her eyes were open as much as possible with the swelling. He scrambled over to her, having to kneel in the sticky blood. He also found his eyesight wasn't as good in the dark as a human, he picked – presumably – her wand up and lit it up. Her eyes looked strangely white and glazed as if she couldn't see, he cast a counter spell in case and her eyes returned to their usual cloudy gray that widened in surprise.

"Sc-Scorpius?" Martha wondered shakily and he noticed her face was already damp from tears.

"I chased off your attacker, you're going to be okay now," Scorpius assured her gently, wishing Michael was there or that he knew more about healing spells, "I'm going to get you to the Hospital Wing, okay?"

"Okay," Martha agreed weakly, "I don't think I can get up though."

"I'll carry you then," Scorpius offered and made to pick her up, she cried out in pain though and he let her down guiltily, "I'm sorry, does that hurt?"

"Ev-Everything hurts," Martha whimpered as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, "Just do it and quickly like ripping off a Band-Aid."

"Ready?" Scorpius asked and Martha just squeezed her eyes shut as she nodded again, he gritted his teeth and scooped her up even as she screamed in pain. He felt horrible as her already battered face screwed up and she cried quietly as he started moving, slower then he would've liked because he feared dropping her or that jostling would aggravate her wounds more. He decided to try distracting her through conversation, "Do you know who attacked you?"

"Shadows," Martha muttered in answer as her eyes opened as much as possible again, fearfully flickering around in the dark, "Don't know who specifically. They were untrained and incapable of non-verbal magic so not NEWT level, seemed male, seemed a teenager, lanky, I'd guess Third to Fifth Year. Of course they could always have been using Polyjuice, if they did that then it could be anyone from a little First Year girl to the Headmaster."

"Well noticed," Scorpius complimented her observation skills, he wished he'd brought the Map because then he would've been able to quickly check but he didn't like transforming with any items on him.

"I didn't tell him, I didn't tell him anything," Martha admitted quietly as her eyes struggled to stay open, worrying him greatly, "He tortured me but I didn't tell him."

"We're nearly there."

"You should have left me, you should have left me to die," Martha whispered tearfully, "You shouldn't be saving me, I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do, it's not your fault your father was a Shadow," Scorpius assured her gently and her eyes met his weakly, fighting to stay open.

"I need… I need to tell you something."

"You just need to focus on staying awake, stay with me," Scorpius pleaded, not sure if she'd pass out or just die if she fell asleep.

She opened her mouth to speak but her strength finally failed her, her head lolled into the crook of her arm as she lost consciousness. Scorpius picked up the pace now her discomfort wasn't an issue, hoping it wasn't too late as he crossed the final stretch of his journey to the Hospital Wing. The two werewolves were there and seemed as far away from each other as possible, somehow Scorpius suspected this was Michael's doing. Hugo was near the door, smaller then Michael and with bushy fur of a reddish and brown coloring. He was curled up on the bed, sniffing the air as he could probably smell the blood as well. Michael was in the far opposite corner, stretched out as Marigold bandaged his front leg.

"You have _got_ to stop attacking yourself," Marigold was complaining of Michael as he worked.

"Marigold!" Scorpius yelled to get his attention and the Head Healer jolted jumpily in surprise before moving over to him, Michael's mismatched eyes flickering in their direction, "I found her like this, she was attacked. She was conscious when I found her but now I don't know."

"Get her onto a bed," Marigold commanded immediately as he strode over to them briskly while Scorpius laid her down on the bed opposite Hugo, he scanned her quickly before jumping into action, "She's alive. Barely. But I can work with barely, get out of my way!"

Scorpius didn't object and stepped well out of the way near door after putting her bloody wand on the bedside, watching anxiously as Marigold fussed over her with a variety of spell flashes and potions he summoned over to himself. He was only distracted by Maurice and Albus joining him, out of breath nonetheless. The latter's emerald eyes practically bulging out of their sockets when they saw Scorpius, his clothes stained and sticky from Martha's blood.

"Why did you run off like that?! Are you okay?! We found blood!" Albus hissed at him worriedly while Maurice had caught sight of Martha.

"It's not mine, its Martha's," Scorpius explained and Albus seemed to relax slightly, he nodded his head in the First Year's direction, "It was the Shadows, I think she was tortured for information. Do you still think she's guilty, Maurice?"

"Maybe," Maurice said cautiously while Albus gave the girl a sympathetic look, "There must be some reason they're after her. Although considering how injured she is, our assailant is not talented at torture. You can't get information out of the dead, you need to cause as much pain while doing the least harm as possible."

"Just for once in your life can't you just be a human person?!" Albus snapped at him irritably, "A First Year just got mutilated, show some basic human decency and not casually discuss the finer points of torture!"

"I am a human person," Maurice protested, looking somewhat hurt by the accusation that he wasn't.

"Would you have done this to her?" Scorpius questioned worriedly of his friend, "Would you have tortured her like this?"

"Like this?" Maurice repeated, looking indignant, "No, I told you, this technique is very poor and sloppy. I'm much better at it."

"Mate, that is not something to be proud of," Albus commented with a sad shake of his head.

* * *

**Part 5: **Unexpected Encounters

* * *

In the wake of Martha's attack, things were very tense in Hogwarts. The fact the Aurors were patrolling the grounds very much meant that her attacker was someone within Hogwarts, the Aurors started interrogating students and teachers alike. Scorpius was no exception to this and while he was quite sure Cistro would've loved him to be guilty, the fact he had been the one to get her help and his friends' testimony – they pretended to have been sneaking down to the kitchen for a midnight snack – made her release him as they had no evidence. Weedy Larry gave a speech about how wrong it was to brutally assault eleven year old girls with knives, ensuring them it was – shockingly – a crime and encouraging anyone who knew anything to come forwards.

Martha was alive but Marigold had put her in a magically induced coma for the time being so no one could talk to her about it, she was very weak and needed rest while the blood she'd lost was replenished. Marigold told Scorpius he'd gotten lucky, if he'd been a few minutes later then she would've have died. As it stood, she still wasn't guaranteed survival but she was hanging in there. Scorpius felt bad for her, she could die and the closest thing she'd got to family caring was a get well card to 'Marsha Santana' – they had literally written that in the card – from her foster parents. On the bright side, Scorpius supposed it was good she wasn't conscious because her attacker couldn't come after her again. She'd said she hadn't told him anything so if they wanted the information, they'd have to wait for her to wake up to try again so until then she was safe. And hopefully she'd stay safe, it was only two weeks to the Christmas break so her attacker would likely be gone then since they were likely a student. The Aurors didn't seem to have any luck tracking the attacker down and neither did they.

It wasn't a fun week, Scorpius felt many days in the Hospital visiting her since he was there for Michael anyway. He was especially wiped after this full moon and Marigold wanted to make sure the wounds he'd inflicted upon himself as a werewolf didn't get infected, Scorpius was almost disappointed there wouldn't be a full moon over the holidays because the Malfoy Manor was ideal to spend the full moon together without worrying about Marigold. Classes were standing to wind down as the Christmas decorations went up, it depressed Scorpius to see them because he knew Calderon was not the one putting them up. Rojer alone didn't seem to notice Christmas existed and didn't cut them the slightest bit of slack with work, not that Scorpius really minded because he liked to work. He was looking forward to the break though, he was dying to see how things were with Varanian and the war, talk to Wyatt about his progress and find out how Molly was since she hadn't replied to any of letters. Plus Michael would be staying with him, Scorpius really hoped it would help him take his mind off things.

First though was the last Hogsmeade trip of the term, Scorpius found himself quite disappointed with that. Albus was going with Grozda and some of her Slytherin friends, Abby and Rose were double dating with Sequoia and Corin while Orous and Vern did the same with Lily and Olivia. Even if he went with them he'd still be a fifth wheel, he'd written to Molly to ask her to meet him but she'd not written back as usual. Sometimes he wondered if the only one still invested in their relationship, was she really that busy or had she just stopped caring? Michael also wanted to stay in Hogwarts and after last time, Scorpius was inclined to let him especially after the rough week.

Scorpius supposed it was still a good chance to get his Christmas shopping done, he'd still have Maurice. Maurice was not the best companion for shopping though since you spent a good deal of time walking, you could only really hold a conversation with Maurice when he was stationary so he was in for a very silent trip. Which got even quieter when Maurice told him he'd decided to stay as well, keep Michael company. If Scorpius hadn't already resolved to buy the Christmas presents, he'd have blown it off to stay as well. He couldn't even bring his leather jacket because he knew Cistro was probably going to chuck in the snow like before, he hated the trip before he'd even stepped foot outside.

It was snowing and the ground was already white, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked very alone to Hogsmeade. Cistro was acting as a guard at the gates of the rundown town again, she did again make him be searched excessively before allowing him through. He was starting to rethink his decision, he'd be there forever if she searched through everything he bought. And he did buy a lot, what was the point in having money if you didn't spend it on the people who mattered to you? Even if none of them had time for him. He also got his baby brother Sol gifts in advance, he got some for Lysel Leebin as well just in case and even something for Maurene to not leave her out. He still found himself feeling rather sad and lonely to be walking around by himself, he was relieved to be done and headed over to the Hog's Head for a nice Butterbeer to warm himself up before the long walk back.

However, he was shocked to walk in the door and literally see a ghost, or at least a man he knew to be dead. Logan Leebin, Leebin's Auror father he'd seen in Rooke's memory. There was no mistaking him, he had the same sharp, striking strange shade of cyan colored eyes. He looked older but his coarse face had been worn and lined with age anyway, he had the same angular features and quite a flat nose. He maintained a robust figure and faded canescent hair hanging around his head, admittedly more gray then in the memory now. His scar from his eyebrow was missing though, Scorpius noticed, or maybe it had just healed? He looked as gruff as in the memory, he sat alone at a table in dark robes with a smoky glass of Firewhisky.

"Erm… H-Hey, excuse me," Scorpius stammered out as he approached the man, he was spared an irritated glance, "Ar-Are you Logan Leebin?"

"No," the man barked in the same rough tone Logan had used, "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to enjoy my lunch."

"But you-you look_ just _like him."

"Boy, I don't think you were born when Logan was alive," the man complained as he sipped his glass.

"I saw him in a memory," Scorpius admitted and earned himself a glance, the man sighed.

"I'm Hogan Leebin, Logan was my brother. My identical, twin brother hence the similarity," the man explained and Scorpius vaguely recalled hearing Logan had had a brother, he hadn't realized it was a twin though, "That's right, so you can stop looking like you've seen a ghost and close your mouth before a fly goes in."

"I-I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized awkwardly and closed his mouth while an idea started to dawn on him as he remembered Logan's suspicions about Rooke, Potter had written them off as insanity but what if they weren't? Would Hogan know? "I erm… I know your nephew."

"How unfortunate for you," Hogan commented disinterestedly while Scorpius took the seat opposite him as an excuse to put down his bags, "Boy's an idiot."

"I found him quite smart."

"He's an idiot, walks around with his head in the clouds. Failed his OWLs and flunked out of Hogwarts, can't cast a decent spell to save his life."

"Well there's more than just being good at spell work, he's good at other things," Scorpius insisted defensively and Hogan gave a snort of derision.

"Like what? His mumbo jumbo psycho muggle crap? He needs to quit and get himself a _real_ job, maybe then he wouldn't be consistently broke," Hogan told him, his tone as disapproving as his words, "That or do what I told him to do when he was thirteen, do the world a favor and throw himself off the Astronomy Tower."

"You-You actually encouraged your _nephew_ to _kill_ himself?" Scorpius wondered in shock that someone could be so cruel.

"Yep," Hogan confirmed remorselessly as he sipped his drink, "Boy's an idiot. Worthless waste of space, can't do anything right. He doesn't deserve to be alive."

"He's your dead twin brother's son," Scorpius pointed out in disbelief and Hogan's eyes flashed angrily.

"Yeah, he is. And my twin brother wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for Flan."

"Didn't he kill himself?"

"Yes but Flan was there, he could've saved him but he didn't. It's _his_ fault I lost my brother," Hogan snapped darkly and downed the rest of his glass, "Need a refill over here!"

"Wasn't he a child at the time?"

"And?" Hogan scoffed as Aberforth came over to refill his drink, he tossed some coins down, "Leave the bottle and keep the change."

"I'll have a Butterbeer please," Scorpius asked of the Barkeeper as he withdrew his own money, Aberforth took the coins and left the bottle. He went over to grab the Butterbeer for him before going back over to the bar, "Thank you."

"I don't care he was a child, it's not like he had to turn into an animagus. He's pathetic. Told you, boy's an idiot. A worthless, useless idiot, who let my twin brother die."

"That's completely unfair, you can't hold it against him."

"Can, done and have."

"I know him, if he could've saved his Dad then he would have," Scorpius protested defensively, already really hating this guy, "I'm sure he did everything he could, did his best."

"Well his best wasn't good enough, was it?!" Hogan yelled at him furiously, "He let my brother die, my twin brother I'd known since conception. Logan was a good man, a _great_ man and Flan let him die. Worthless brat, will never amount to anything or do anything worthwhile in his whole entire life. Logan did more in his limited lifespan then Flan could do in three, Logan was an Auror. He saved lives, he put bad people away, he helped people."

"Flan helps people in his own way, who are you to criticize him when he's out there doing that while you're sitting in a bar drinking?! What do you do that's so great?!" Scorpius snapped irritably, almost forgetting why he'd started speaking to him in the first place.

"I'm a Healer," Hogan pointed out smugly, "I save _actual_ lives not do mumbo jumbo psycho crap."

"Oh right," Scorpius muttered, he'd completely forgotten hearing that.

"And my wife left me this morning so forgive me for wanting a drink, this makes five ex-wives for me," Hogan continued and raised his glass, "Now who are _you_ to criticize _me_? Some upstart adolescent who starts hassling a guy who was just casually minding his own business because you think you know everything?"

"Look, I just…" Scorpius started to say awkwardly, after all that he thought it would be bad to leave without his original questions answered, "I just wondered if you were close to your brother."

"He was my _twin_, of course I was close to him," Hogan scoffed irritably and Scorpius took a breath.

"Well to cut a long story short, an Auror called Cel Rooke used Legilimency on me and I saw some of his memories. One of which involved your brother and he didn't seem to like Rooke, Harry Potter said it was just part of his insanity but I still wondered if there was any truth to his suspicions and if Rooke could really be a bad guy. So… Do you know anything about it?"

"Yes, I do," Hogan confirmed, looking somewhat intrigued and Scorpius watched him interest as he sipped his Butterbeer but the elder man didn't elaborate.

"Care to share?"

"Why would I tell you?" Hogan demanded as he raised an eyebrow, "I don't think I like you, kid who likes my idiot nephew."

"Well clearly you like the sound of your own voice or you wouldn't still be talking," Scorpius stated testily and Hogan laughed.

"Very true, good comeback," Hogan offered as he leaned back and took a breath of his own, "Okay, so Mr and Mrs Rooke was this wizard and his muggle wife who ran a sweet shop in this small hamlet, they were your regular decent, boring people. Celestine Rooke is their one and only child and shortly after he graduated Hogwarts, they were murdered in their home by the Killing Curse. They weren't robbed so it wasn't for money, they couldn't find anyone with motive to want them dead so they thought they'd been killed by fragments of Death Eaters still in hiding since she was a muggle and by their logic he was a blood traitor."

"Logan didn't think that though?"

"No, he didn't," Hogan confirmed with a shake of the head, "He thought the killer was someone they knew because there wasn't much sign of a struggle, they didn't put up a fight. The bodies had also been treated with respect, the killer had closed their eyes and repositioned their limbs not at whatever angle the body would've landed at. He also thought the son was suspicious, thought something was off about him. He suspected Celestine had secretly resented his parents and murdered them but still felt some degree of remorse, the others thought he was innocent though and just a poor orphan who wanted justice.

"Logan couldn't prove a damn thing but he was sure of it and was determined to nail him when he could get proof, of course no one believed him with proof because they were taken in with the pretty boy and Potter taking him under his wing as his protégé didn't help. It was only after that Logan started seeing things, he thought this evil darkness was stalking him and he thought that Celestine was in league with it. And not just because he was crazily paranoid!" Hogan paused to yell defensively, glaring at Scorpius as if he expected him to argue the point, "Celestine saw the darkness too but pretended not to, taunted him about it. It was his word against Celestine's though and they don't side with the person they think is insane."

"Didn't he go insane though?"

"Did he?" Hogan questioned and leaned forward to lower his voice, "Logan though there was a darkness stalking him, what does that sound like to you?"

"I don't-"

"He finally got suspended for gouging out a man's eyes because he was trying to save him from the darkness because the darkness would go into their eyes," Hogan interjected and Scorpius got chills as he was reminded of something, "What does that sound like to you? What in our present day lives do we know makes someone's eyes go dark? What's another word for darkness? Blackness? Murkiness? Or_ shadows_. I think Logan stumbled into something he shouldn't have and they drove him to suicide to silence him, drove him mad first to make sure no one would believe a single word he said."

"That is… an interesting theory," Scorpius admitted, if he was right then Rooke was definitely the Shadow but on the other hand... there was no way to tell since Logan was the one to see it and Hogan was very clearly biased so could very well be desperately clinging to the belief that his brother's death had more reason, "But how can you be sure?"

"I can't," Hogan grunted irritably, "Got no proof, do I? And thanks to Flan, Logan's not even around to fight his own corner and clear his good name. Damn I hate that boy."

"You know he's an adult now, right? He has a wife and two kids."

"I know," Hogan insisted as he took another swig of his drink, "I just don't care. Thirteen or thirty, he's still a boy. A weak, stupid boy who let my brother die."

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Scorpius complained of him as he sipped his Butterbeer.

"Least I'm honest," Hogan shrugged as he downed the last of his glass before looking rather dejected, "I miss my brother."

* * *

_Xerxes thought a lot about the conversation with his mother and what she'd asked of him, he did some sleuthing and found out she was telling the truth. About everything. She did have a terminal disease of the mind and would suffer a slow death, she also did have a second son with a muggle. He did have another half-brother. He wanted to meet his brother but first, he really had to deal with his mother. He went to see her again but the next meeting was not so productive, he walked through the door and she stared at him blankly._

_"Do I know you?" Hecate had questioned of him, raising an eyebrow._

_"It's me, Xerxes, your firstborn son," Xerxes insisted and she giggled like a school girl._

_"Don't be silly, I'm not old enough to have an adult. But if you want, we can try make a son if you catch my drift," Hecate offered with a seductive wink, Xerxes walked out on her in disgust while she had a coughing fit behind him, "Wait!"_

_His next two visits didn't go any better, the second time she seemed to think she was a child and the third she seemed to know better but not remember their prior conversation so they had to go through it again then she forgot halfway through. Xerxes decided that he could understand why she wanted to die, he certainly wouldn't want to live like that. But still… She was his mother, a terrible, abysmal mother that he couldn't even be mad at because her mind was going as she slowly died. It was frustrating._

_"Have you come to kill me, Xerxes?" Hecate queried of him curiously at his next visit._

_"So you know who I am?" Xerxes wondered suspiciously._

_"Yes… Why? Have you seen him in between these times when I was not having a good day?"_

_"Err… Yeah," Xerxes admitted and she sighed heavily before coughing as he came over to her, "But I'm not going to kill you."_

_"Oh come on, now you're just being cruel."_

_"Well you were cruel to me!"_

_"I'm sorry," Hecate offered in the most insincere tone, "Well not for leaving but I'm sorry you're such a baby about it."_

_"I hate you," Xerxes spat._

_"Then be a man and kill your mother."_

_"Maybe I will," Xerxes snapped but immediately regretted it, Hecate looked hopeful, "But you wouldn't want to live a little bit longer first? Try to catch up, maybe meet your grandsons."_

_"Why would I want to do that?" Hecate scoffed as if it was the stupidest suggestion she'd ever heard._

_"You're supposed to care about your children!" Xerxes yelled at her furiously, feeling tears pricking his eyes again, "You're supposed to care!"_

_"I do care, I just care about myself more. I told you," Hecate told him unapologetically and Xerxes angrily grabbed the pillow from out beneath her head, "You're going to kill me with a pillow? Why not just a quick Killing Curse?"_

_"If you want me to kill you then I get to kill you whatever way I want so shut up!"_

_"Fine, smother me then," Hecate agreed with a roll of her eyes, she sighed and leaned back. Her faded violet eyes met his and she smiled as her eyes fluttered close, "You're a good son, Xerxes."_

_"Yes, yes I am a good son," Xerxes choked on the words and felt his voice cracking as he pushed the pillow over her face, "And you and Dad never appreciated it. I'm the best."_

_He'd never killed someone before, he knew the Soul Eaters did which was exactly why he didn't want to use the Killing Curse they frequented. It was his mother, it was more personal. He held in place and she didn't fight back, she didn't struggle at all. She just let death take her, he didn't know how long he held the pillow there or how long was necessary to kill. He was lost in thought, thinking of the pitifully few memories he had of his mother and even more memories without her, that she should have been there for but wasn't because she didn't care. When he moved the pillow away, she was dead. _

_He'd killed his own mother like she'd wanted because he was a good son and he hoped she was in hell for not appreciating that, he hoped his father would join her. How dare they not appreciate him or recognize his brilliance, he was such a great person. If they didn't care then it was their loss because he was a far better person then they were. He wiped his eyes and put the pillow back, letting Hecate's lifeless head lay back down on it and tucking her in with the threadbare blanket, the way better mothers then her did to their children. She almost looked like she was sleeping, except she drew no breath and the world seemed suddenly so silent. Slowly and sadly, Xerxes turned and walked away like she had done to him. He hoped have better luck with his half-brother, Pyrrhus Florian._

* * *

Scorpius had a lot to think about unexpectedly from his chance encounter with Hogan Leebin, he didn't even mind Cistro's extensive search of things because he was so lost in thought. Rooke was high-ranking in the Auror department, if he was a Shadow then he may very well be a high-ranking one, maybe even the third of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants. But on the other hand, the half-drunk vehement ramblings of a man dedicated to his insane, suicidal brother were not the most reliable sources of information.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice barked at him as he neared the exit to Hogsmeade, Scorpius jumped in surprise and turned expecting to see a disguised Varanian but he didn't. Instead he saw Lenore's uncle, the former Death Eater John Avery. He had a strange scar down his face now though and looked more tired and gaunt then the last time Scorpius had seen him, did he have a twin too? "You're Michael Sanford's friend, right?"

"Err… Yeah," Scorpius admitted, feeling rather suspicious and letting one hand drift inconspicuously to his wand, "What's it to you?"

"Where is he? I need to find him."

"Tell me why."

"Tell me where he is first," John countered and Scorpius sighed in frustration.

"Good luck finding him without me," Scorpius offered and turned on his heel, hoping this would actually work.

"I just need to give me a message, okay?"

"A message?" Scorpius repeated dubiously as he turned back to him, "Why is a former Death Eater of the infamous Avery family trying to give my muggle-born friend a message?"

"Are you going to tell me where he is or not?" John asked irritably, "If you want to play the game then you have to take your turn as well."

"He's in Hogwarts, he doesn't like Hogsmeade and he didn't want to come," Scorpius told him truthfully and John muttered a curse before whipping out his own wand along with an envelope, he waved his wand over it, "So wh-"

"Fine then, give this to him," John interrupted and shoved the small envelope to him, "It's a note from his mother, just pass it along. And don't bother trying to be nosy because I just charmed it, to read the contents he must tap it with his wand and say his grandfather's name."

Scorpius opened his mouth to say something more but the former Death Eater disapparated without another word, he scowled at the blank paper and fiercely wished he knew Michael's grandfather's name. Now he had two strange occurrences to think about, why was John Avery delivering letters for a muggle and was Cel Rooke a Shadow.


	7. Chapter 7: Bloody Bonds

_**Parts (27-30)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 7  
**

Bloody Bonds

* * *

**Part 1: **Going Home

* * *

Celestine Rooke felt extremely frustrated. Of all the things he did for the Soul Eater, there was one task at the top of the list that Sal wanted done. A very simple task, locate her brother. Not even plan, execute or worry about an escape plan but just locate him because you needed that core thing done before you could build on it. But so far he had failed and it was driving him crazy. It wasn't like Florian or Varanian who were actively trying to hide and good at it – he had people looking for them anyway – which he could accept but her brother? Calderon was in _their _custody, he was _their_ prisoner. He should know this, he should be able to find this out but Harry was staying frustratingly silent. Even to poor Ron who just felt like his best friend in the world no longer trusted him and was buddying up with the Minister, Ron was far easier to get secrets out of then Harry.

He'd tried everything, only a handful of people were allowed to guard and none of them – even under the influence of Vertiaserum unbeknownst to them – knew the location even. Harry brought them there personally and the enchantments on the place dispelled the Tracking Charms he'd attempted, since he apparated he couldn't have Specters following them and Harry used the Patronus Charm on them before leaving to make sure he couldn't sneak one in. He had already searched all the safe houses the Aurors used and every damn property registered to every Auror, everyone in Harry's family and the Minister himself. All nothing. It was either a muggle dwelling – which made it much harder to track down – or some random abandoned building – who even kept track of how many abandoned properties there were in England? – or the property of a relative of an Auror, there were a lot of Aurors to begin with and even more relatives of Aurors to go through.

Celestine was extremely frustrated and immensely upset with himself, Sal was doing so well – of course she was, she was so brilliant – in her conquest of the rest of the world and here he was failing one simple task. He couldn't even say he'd had any luck with Florian, Varanian, Gray or whoever was trying to kill the Scamanders and Scorpius. Well, Martha Seneca was a suspect but his operative hadn't gotten any confirmation or proof before assaulting her and being Xerxes' child didn't equal guilt, she'd been put to sleep for her recovery so there was no chance of asking her at the present time. It could very well be her but Celestine wanted to be sure, he also wanted to know why.

He sighed heavily and tried to push it out of his mind slightly as he returned home, it was the middle of the day and he had arranged to meet with some of his underlings. He liked using his home because he knew it was secure, with Varanian and Gray crawling about he could never be too careful. It was supposed to be empty though, his wife at her work as a Healer and their worthless spawn at the Burrow being babysat by Molly and Arthur Weasley. He swore he could hear his wife's voice though, he scowled in confusion and started scaling their staircase where the voice only got louder. It seemed to be coming from their bedroom, he crept down the very neat home they had and pushed it open.

"Yes, Vale, yes! That's a good boy, that's my wonderful little angel," his wife was saying to their son as he opened the door.

Gabrielle Delacour was his wife, Fleur's sister thus connecting him and further ingraining him in the Potter/Weasley clan. She had the beauty being part Veela provided, dazzling blue eyes and lustrous silvery blond hair that she currently was styling curled. Compared to Sal though, she was as appealing as a pile of rotting garbage but he'd still married her for his cover just like Sal wanted. Their son, Valerian or "Vale" had recently turned two and Celestine despised him with a passion, even more then Gabrielle. He didn't know why people didn't see a monster when they looked at him, he was a vile, deformed, monstrous freak of nature all hidden in the guise of a beautiful blond child. They were sitting on the bed with some toy blocks, Vale on her lap as she was seemingly trying to encourage him to play with them and was succeeding. Somewhat. At least he was holding one and turning it over in his disgusting hands, the weak smile on his face died at his entrance though.

"Oh hi, sweetie, I didn't think you'd be home so early," Gabrielle commented in surprise as she saw him, he also noticed she looked like she'd been crying. Vale froze and his eyes focused on him, unbeknownst to Gabrielle.

"I could say the same for you," Celestine offered and faked a nervous smile as he approached, giving her the customary kiss in greeting like a good husband, "What are you doing back? And Vale too?"

"I don't know," Gabrielle admitted with a sigh and cuddled their son closer, Vale only had eyes for him though even as she stroked his hair, "I was just treating this werewolf boy almost Vale's age today, the full moon destroys his poor little body despite all the potions we're pumping into him to make sure he survives it. He's so weak and goes through excruciating pain, even after his body aches and of course half the people have it out for him. But…"

"But what?"

"But he's still so happy, he smiles weakly and tries to laugh, finds amusement in things despite how bad he has it," Gabrielle explained and kissed the top of Vale's head as her words seemed to catch in her throat, he wished she'd hurry up because Selwyn would be there any second to speak to him, "It made me think of Vale and how miserable he is despite having everything, I just wanted to spend some time with him. I mean, what kind of mother am I that my toddler is so unhappy while this tortured soul can still laugh? I want to hear our boy laugh, be happy like regular carefree toddlers. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, Cel, I don't know why I'm failing so badly."

"You can't blame yourself," Celestine assured her gently and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly like a good husband, "You're a wonderful mother and you do your best, whatever the reason he is for… being how he is, it's not your fault. You're the only thing keeping him going."

"Really?" Gabrielle wondered and turned to him tearfully while Vale finally glanced at his mother, he reached out his small hand to cautiously grasp hers. He was afraid to hold things because Celestine had condition him by snatching things away or making them give him a shock, he shouldn't be touching things.

"Really," Celestine assured her with a comfortingly smile that he didn't feel, he needed to get her to leave, "Why don't you take him to the park? I'd come too but I only came in to pick something up."

"It's freezing outside."

"So play in the snow, kids love snow."

"Nah, I think we're good here," Gabrielle brushed it off and he cursed mentally, trying to think…

Maybe he didn't have to get her to leave, he knew she and Vale were in here so he could just avoid them and tell Selwyn to leave to meet somewhere else when he showed up. Yes, that could work. He just needed to get downstairs.

"Alrighty, why don't I make you a cuppa before I leave then? And some tasteful juice for the young mister."

"That'd be nice, you're the best," Gabrielle said with a smile and Celestine turned, happily thinking his issue was solved. How wrong he was.

"Gee, boss, I was looking for you all over," Selwyn complained with a grunt as he strode in, Gabrielle's jaw dropped. Selwyn was a known Death Eater turned Soul Eater, he had killed Percy Weasley, "She in on this meeting too?"

"Get out!" Celestine hissed at him and Selwyn's expression twisted to surprise before he vanished into the Specters and turned back to his wife, Gabrielle's face had drained of all color and she was looking at him like she'd never seen him before.

"Pl-Please tell me you're working undercover," Gabrielle asked in a whisper and for a second he seriously considered it but the words died in this throat, he smiled to himself. This was a hassle but dammit, how often would he get this opportunity?

"No. But that's the lie I told your sister before I murdered her," Celestine confirmed and she put a horrified hand over her mouth, tears leaking from her eyes and he smirked, "What? Didn't you realize I killed your sister? If it makes you feel better, I had nothing against her but saw something she shouldn't and I had to silence her. Permanent-"

Gabrielle started moving before he'd finished the sentence, apparently catching his drift and lunging to grab her wand off the bedside table. It was too far and she was too slow, his wand was in his hand with the practiced speed few but Aurors could boast of and a non-verbal Imperius Curse already striking her. Calmly she put the wand down and stood up, going to retrieve some parchment, ink and a quill. He'd have to cover up her death somehow.

"Why are you doing this, Cel?" Gabrielle asked of him as she started scratching away at the parchment, fighting against the curse but he was stronger and he only allowed her use of her mouth, "How could you turn to their side? How could you kill my sister?"

"I was always on their side," Celestine scoffed and let her tears fall onto the ink, smudging it and making it seem more genuine, "It was all a lie, all an act because my Master wanted me to gain Harry's trust and get in close with him."

"You're sick. You need help."

"No, I'm afraid you are and you're not going to get it," Celestine smirked and made Gabrielle go retrieve a belt from their closet, she struggled again but he was still stronger.

"Are you really going to kill me, Cel?" Gabrielle asked fearfully as she dragged a chair from her dressing table over, standing on it as she wrapped the belt around her neck and hung it from the ceiling fan, "I'm your wife."

"You were just a way to strengthen that connection, I _never _loved you, I only ever loved my Master," Celestine told her truthfully, how long he had wanted to say those words and clear the air. She didn't look she was listening though, her crying eyes had focused on something else.

"You're not going to hurt Vale are you?" Gabrielle wondered in the lightest of whispers, as if she was afraid to ask. He glanced back, Vale was still sitting on the bed watching the situation unfold although he was too young to comprehend he was watching his mother die. Good, Celestine wanted him to watch, "He's your son too, you wouldn't k-kill your own child?"

"I'm not going to kill him," Celestine assured her with a smile as he made her kick the chair out from under her so the belt started hanging her, "Yet."

She struggled then, taking him off guard and shattering the Imperius Curse. Too bad it was too late. She clawed desperately at the belt, trying to untie it to free herself so she could protect Vale. It was no use though, her own hanging weight prevented her from being able to unbuckle it or pull it off the fan and she couldn't rip through leather. Her struggling grew weaker as her face grew bluer and then she was just hanging there, her eyes staring sightlessly at her child as her silvery blond hair fell around her face. Vale looked horrified now, he may not understand what had happened yet but he clearly thought it seemed unpleasant. For a second Celestine seriously considered doing it, ending the mutated freak's life but instead just zapped him with the Cruciatus Curse. He'd have plenty of time to kill it later, for now he had a grieving husband to pretend to be.

"Do you know what just happened?" Celestine questioned of his screaming son as he dropped the curse, Vale lay there trembling with a look of absolute terror on his tear-stained face. He shook his head, "After your Mummy brought you home, she did all this by herself. I wasn't here and when I came back, I found her like this and you were just sitting there playing with blocks while your Mummy killed herself because of her guilt over you like the heartless little bastard you are. I'm always watching you, Vale, and if you tell anyone the truth then I will hurt you like this again and I will kill whoever you tell. Do you understand?"

"What is kill?" Vale asked in a quiet, quivering tone and Celestine pointed to Gabrielle's body.

"That is kill. It's when your mind is gone and your body is all that is left, without your mind your body is like an empty shell like if a snail left its back behind. Your Mummy is never going to speak to you again, never play with you, never going to try squeeze a smile out of you, never kiss you goodnight and tell you she loves you. No one will ever love you," Celestine explained and fresh tears rolled down the freak's face, Gabrielle should have just taken him out to play in the snow when she had the chance, "And never lasts forever."

* * *

"It's a letter from Crystal," Michael told him disinterestedly as he read the letter that John Avery had given to him, he was laying on his bed in their dormitory, "She wants me meet her next week when I'm out of Hogwarts for the holidays so she can fill me and maybe we can have Christmas together, just instructions."

"Does it say why John Avery is delivering it?" Scorpius questioned curiously but Michael shook his head, still looking bored, "You don't seem very pleased to hear from her."

"Is it weird that I'm mad at her?" Michael asked of him, sparing him a glance as he put down the letter and seeming to genuinely want an answer, "I'm told my family die in a fire, I'm worried sick and all my mother can do is send me two short messages?"

"Least she did something," Albus offered with a shrug.

"Mother's suck," a young girl's voice stated and all three jumped as Cassia walked casually into their dormitory, "I _told _you."

"Cassia, you can't be in here!" Albus hissed at her and the girl threw him a steely glare, looking rather like her father, "It's a _boy's_ dormitory!"

"So?"

"So… What if we were naked or something?!"

"So be naked, I don't care," Cassia insisted, throwing up her arms in exasperation and still looking angry as she started pacing.

"Did you want something?" Scorpius asked of her, sensing something was up and she turned on him angrily.

"I want Skye to die!"

"Harsh much?" Albus prompted and Cassia kicked some bag Reuben Tear had left on the ground.

"After all these years of not giving a fuck about us, she is ruining our Christmas by wanting us to stay with her! How dare she?!" Cassia explained as she continued pacing, still enraged and muttering a string of curses against her much like Professor Ashain.

"Wow, I haven't heard that curse before."

"Maybe your mother feels guilty for leaving but loves you and wants to be part of your life, it's a good thing not bad," Scorpius offered awkwardly and some ornament on Reuben's bedside exploded.

"Well Skye can go shove her guilt up her-"

"Whoa, whoa, you cannot say that about your mother," Albus interjected Cassia's angry sentence, the girl folded her arms crossly.

"That's what Daddy said. That's why I ran off, he tried to say it was a good thing too."

"Well, sorry kid but mothers are mothers."

"Mothers aren't mothers if they walk away from their family," Cassia spat darkly and glared at them again, "You people are supposed to be on my side! You're supposed to be my friends! Why are you siding with Skye?! Are you her friends?! Did you even met her?! Because if you did then you would see what a heartless bitch she is!"

"Cassi-" Albus started to say but she stormed off angrily with a snow globe on Reuben's bedside also exploding, he looked worriedly after her, "I pity Ashain, if she's like this now then she's going to be a nightmare as a teenager."

"If she lives to be a teenager," Michael pointed out and they both threw him concerned looks, "What?"

"That's pretty dark, man, and around Christmas too."

"What are you going to do?" Scorpius asked of Michael, the conversation reverting back to prior Cassia's interruption, "For Christmas I mean. You're still… I mean..."

"I'm still going to yours," Michael agreed with a hesitant sigh, "I don't see why I can't go to yours and find out what's going on with my family."

The final week of Hogwarts rolled in after that, lessons lax and snowball fights abundant outside. The Christmas spirit was rather dampened though, the fear of a psycho going around with a knife – obviously no one knew why Martha had been targeted – lingered in the air, Martha herself remained unconscious, Rose and Albus' Aunt Gabrielle committed suicide - making him stay silent on his Rooke suspicions and conversation with Hogan since Gabrielle had been his wife, it seemed a bad time to bring it up with them - and the Shadows moved on to their next target: Cyprus. It was a small island country, Scorpius didn't think it would last long. The final day came and the last class for Scorpius was Alchemy with Rojer, who alone didn't seem to be going easy on them for Christmas.

"If you want to learn Alchemy then learn Alchemy, if you want to go to Christmas then go to Christmas," Rojer told them when someone complained, "Every lesson of these counts."

"You could at least do something fun?" Elm grumbled under his breath.

"Alchemy is not fun for you?" Rojer wondered, Scorpius wasn't sure whether he was seriously surprised or just being sarcastic, "Huh, well this is too bad for you."

"Are you going to give us back the marks for any of our essays?" Etta Hayes questioned.

"No, I do not mark them," Rojer stated with a shake of his head, "Anyway, today we will get started on what it is that you learn after your Christmas. You are getting the hang of the basic practical Alchemy but there is more, not only is what you are make important but sometimes can do different things dependent on how it is you guide this. This is very much important, especially in the more advanced Alchemy. Not only is the process you have to do but the application is more difficult as well, you can often not even see what is it that you are directing so it is also very important to get this right."

Rojer went on to start explaining to them the process, it was a bit like needing to know wand movements except you weren't casting a spell and it was much more complex movements as well as sometimes needing to guide it. It was completely nonverbal and required a lot of focus, he demonstrated by using the metallic liquid – that Scorpius was sure was the stuff he'd used on him twice before – and simply guiding it into different shapes, patterns and directions to show them. It looked easy enough and Rojer said it was the easiest way, it proved to me much more difficult though. Half of them struggled to move it at all and the other half lost control of it completely, even dedicating the rest of the lesson to it showed little improvement. Scorpius found it rather like trying to juggle with invisible balls that were also weightless, it wasn't easy. Scorpius still hung back after class, wanting to say goodbye to Rojer.

"There is nothing here to help me clean up," Rojer pointed out quite truthfully as he managed to recall all of the potion masterfully while still sitting at his desk, working on some potion as he had been while they were working, "And you do not have to do that either."

"I just wanted to wish you a happy Christmas," Scorpius said, "Doing anything special?"

"Visiting Rayan while he is in the hospital."

"How is he doing?"

"Better I think. He is waking now at the least," Rojer told him as he continued peeling the skin off some exotic fruit, "I do not read good in English and his wife writes all small and joined up, is hard to read so I will know better when I see him."

"Well give him my best and have a good break," Scorpius offered and turned to leave.

"What did you think of that class?" Rojer queried of him, making him turn back although Rojer was still focused on carving away the fruit skin, "Is important if you want to learn about the soul."

"It is?"

"Yes, the soul is not something you can reach out and grab with your physical hands. The mind is the link between the soul and the body and magic is part of the soul, is much more mental and magical to effect the soul. And it will be more harder to do then this."

"Good to know," Scorpius mused thoughtfully as Rojer tossed the skin into the cauldron, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go on to your holiday and try not to get murdered, buh-bye."

Scorpius spent the rest of the day packing mostly, Michael helping Albus with his and doing his own which Scorpius was glad to see. He was looking forward to Michael being there, both because he thought it would be good for him and because he realized it was his first name having a friend over. Unless he counted Molly but she was his girlfriend, it was slightly different. For once in his life, Scorpius found himself feeling uncomfortable around the Thestrals since he'd been one for a while when he lost his mind and left abruptly. He felt it might be somewhat awkward and he was sure they remembered him, they weren't stupid. Albus actually sat with him that time since Grozda was staying, she would be leaving for holidays but since her father was a professor they would leave later. The train trip was much better than it had been going and finally he was saying goodbye to his friends – except Michael – on the platform.

"Bye, have a great Christmas," Abby offered as she hugged them in turn and went to leave with Sequoia who seemed to have retrieved her things.

"What? Why are you leaving with him?" Albus questioned of her in confusion.

"Because I'm spending Christmas with him."

"WHAT!?" Albus burst out incredulously and Abby shrugged disinterestedly, her expression very set, "You're staying with- Does your mother know?!"

"Already said goodbye to her when you were getting your trunk. Have a nice Christmas," Abby reiterated before leaving, probably wise considering Albus looked ready to collapse from shock.

"Scorpius!" his father's voice called and Scorpius turned as his father approached with a welcoming smile, Michael shifted nervously and his father lost his smile but he did speak civilly, "And friend of Scorpius who will be staying with us, we hope you enjoy your stay."

"Father, this is my friend, Michael Sanford," Scorpius introduced him and his father warily offered his hand which Michael warily took, "Michael, this is my father, Draco Malfoy."

"And I'm Albus," Albus offered as their hands shot apart, sadly Scorpius realized it was more contact then he'd get from his father, "And I'm going. Home. With my family. Like you should at Christmas. Not some random stuck up guy with the sense of humor and personality of a plank of wood!"

"You do that," his father commented disinterestedly as Albus trudged off to his mother and sister who was kissing Orous goodbye, dragging his trunk behind him while Scorpius looked around for his mother, "Astoria is waiting at home, we're babysitting Myriam's kids. Have you got all your stuff?"

"Yes, Father," Scorpius confirmed and Michael also nodded.

"Then I guess we should go."

* * *

**Part 2: **Children

* * *

Atticus Ashain sighed heavily as he finished packing Cassia's bags for while she'd been staying with Skye, she was really fighting him on this. He supposed this had been what it was like for Skye, she claimed Cassia had been incredibly difficult while they were separated. He hoped she'd calm down during the actual break, it was going to be impossible to build back up the relationship with their mother again if Cassia was like this. He thought maybe when Cassia saw Skye, she might calm down, when she saw her mother wasn't leaving her again.

Kids needed their mothers, they were the important parent. Fathers were useless. He knew they'd be happier if Skye was back in their lives, she was a better parent then he was and if she wanted custody again then they'd be even better off because they could go to a muggle school again and have friends. Friends their own age, not teenagers or animals. It was healthier. He still found himself feeling rather dejected though at the thought of not spending Christmas with his children, Skye had been clear about not wanting him there. She was with Carl from her work Carl now, who incidentally he'd learned spelled his name with a 'C'.

He supposed he could've pushed to share them for the holiday but he'd been afraid that rocking the boat even slightly would have her jump out completely, his children having their mother in their lives was more important than his own wishes. He'd have their pets as company though… Not that that made him feel any better, Calderon wouldn't be there either because he was still imprisoned. Atticus missed him now that he was gone, son of Voldemort or not he _knew_ he wasn't the Shadow Master. He didn't deserve this and Atticus felt guilty that he couldn't do anything for him. He zipped up the case and carried it back out to the living area of his quarters, Antonius was already there – he'd helped his son pack first - and was rubbing his dog's belly. Christmas was going to be fun.

"You ready to go?" Atticus asked of his son with somewhat forced enthusiasm and Antonius nodded nervously as he glanced at him, he patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "It'll be okay."

"It's just been a long time," Antonius pointed out quietly, "Two and a half years is a long time, Dad. What if I blow it and she leaves forever this time?"

"Antonius, she's your _mother_," Atticus insisted as he sat down beside his child, putting his arm around him, "Nothing is as strong as the bond mothers have with their children, that love is how Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. There is nothing you can do to 'blow' it with your own mother."

"Really?" Antonius questioned fearfully, looking on the verge of tears, "B-Because she left before."

"That wasn't because of anything _you_ did," Atticus assured him and pulled his child into a hug, Antonius clung to him tightly, "That was because of something _I_ did and I'm not even going to be there so there's no chance of that happening again."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too but it's only for a few weeks and you'll have your Mum. And Cassia," Atticus offered gently and rubbed Antonius' back soothingly, "It'll be fine."

"I love you, Dad."

"I love you too," Atticus assured him and kissed Antonius' head as he pulled away, giving him a reassuring smile that Antonius returned it weakly and wiped his eyes quickly, "Now come on, let's go find your sister."

He carried his children's bags out of their quarters, through his office and down into the classroom. He was pleased and relieved to see Cassia was returning with her pet vulture perched on her shoulder, she paused when she saw the bags though.

"I'm not going," Cassia insisted stubbornly.

"Yes you are," Atticus countered firmly, "Your mother wants to see you at Christmas so you're going to go."

"SKYE IS NOT MY MOTHER!" Cassia screamed at him furiously and her bags caught fire, he whipped out his wand to put them out, "SHE LEFT! IF SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE ALONE ON CHRISTMAS THEN SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE ABANDONED HER FAMILY LIKE AN EVIL HEARTLESS BITCH!"

"Cassia, don't you speak about your mother like that!"

"WOULD YOU RATHER I HAVE AVARIS TEAR OUT HER EYES!? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING TO DO IF I SEE HER!"

"You're going to go and you're going to behave!" Atticus insisted, trying not to feel somewhat disturbed, "I know you love her deep down, you need to think about that."

"I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I _HATE_ HER!" Cassia screamed as she turned on her heel, "AND I'M NOT GOING!"

"Yes you are!" Atticus yelled determinedly and started to head after her but she cawed, the bird flew at him. It didn't attack him, it just got in the way and by the time he batted it aside she had run off. He sighed heavily as he put down Cassia's bags, "Okay, we'll be late if we wait anymore. I'll drop you off and come back for Cassia, give her some time to cool down. Sound good?"

"Okay," Antonius agreed as he hugged his dog goodbye, "See you soon, Hope."

Atticus patted his son on the back and they headed off, they needed to walk to Hogsmeade so he could apparate them. It wasn't a pleasant walk, the air was icy and the snow all slushy but he managed to get some conversation out of Antonius without Cassia there to but in. Once there, he apparated Antonius to the street he'd once called home. The snow wasn't as thick there, he noticed as he led Antonius over to the door and nervously rapped on it.

Skye opened it a second later, she was still looking beautiful even dressed casually in a thick pale blue sweater with a glittery snowflake on it and jeans. She was slender, her straw-colored hair was identical to Cassia's natural was, except not a tangled mess. Her sea-green eyes were unique to her though, her long lashes made them stand out all the more. He missed not seeing those eyes when he woke up, he missed her and the feelings of loss, hurt and anger at his own stupidity for ruining their relationship welled in his gut.

As usual when he saw her, he had to resist the urge to not break down crying and begging for forgiveness, he didn't want to be alone. He'd do anything to make it right, anything she wanted. He just wanted for them to be together, to be a family again. He still loved her, she still had two children who loved her. Even if Cassia wouldn't admit it. Didn't she know that? Didn't she care? How could she be with someone else?! If Brutus was there, he'd tell him he was being pathetic… And he'd be right. Atticus was pathetic. No wonder Skye left him.

"Hey," Atticus said instead of any of that, realizing there was a void of silence where Antonius and Skye were just staring at each other. Skye glanced back to him.

"Are those Tony's things?" Skye wondered and he nodded, she took the bags from him.

"Antonius," Antonius corrected her barely audibly.

"Where um… Where's Cassia?"

"She… wasn't ready," Atticus said slowly, "I'll drop her by later."

"She didn't want to come, did she?"

"What? Of course she did, she's so… eager to erm… to see you that she…" Atticus started to lie but Skye's expression told him she wasn't believing a single word, "Maybe it wasn't her favorite thing in the world but she'll be fine when she gets here."

"Don't bother," Skye sighed, "You can't force Cassia to do anything, she's impossible. If she doesn't want to come then she doesn't have to, you can have her for Christmas and I'll have Tony. If Cassia's not ready then she's not ready, it can wait."

"Antonius," Antonius corrected her quietly once more.

"Actually, he prefers Antonius now," Atticus informed her and Antonius gave him a grateful look, Skye's gaze slid to her son for a sad second before turning back to him, "And alright, if she changes her mind then I'll tell you."

"She won't," Skye stated with certainty, "I know my own daughter."

"Of course you do," Atticus nodded, in fact she probably knew them better then him. He turned back to Antonius and hugged his son goodbye, "Have a good Christmas."

"You too, Dad," Antonius offered as they pulled apart and Skye let him into the house, "Bye."

"Bye."

"Merry Christmas, Atticus," Skye said as she closed the door on him.

* * *

"So this is the Malfoy Manor," his father said conversationally to Michael when they arrived there, Michael's jaw dropped as they approached it with the Malfoy patriarch leading the way.

"What?" Scorpius wondered of his friend, Michael was gaping as it glanced at him, "You knew I lived in a mansion and came from money."

"I still didn't think it was… this much!" Michael offered and gestured wildly to his home before shaking his head, "You could fit my old home in here only like a million times over. My family's always been poor, if Aaron's place looked a little nicer on the outside then that would be like a mansion to me. And your home is even bigger."

"Well it's not as big as the Ashain mansion was," Scorpius pointed out defensively, feeling uncomfortable about his family's wealth again, "Before it exploded and all."

"Well there's no danger of the Malfoy Manor exploding, everything is of the highest quality," his father told them proudly as he seemingly believed the Ashain mansion had been of inferior quality and that was somehow responsible, he led them inside again and Michael's jaw dropped again, "See?"

"How are we friends again?" Michael queried of him.

"Why don't I give you a tour and show you where you'll be sleeping? The house-elves will see to your bags, Scorpius go say hello to your Mother."

"Okay," Scorpius muttered in agreement while his father walked off with Michael, who looked very out of place with the well-dressed pure-blood.

Scorpius left the bags for the house-elves and headed off to the parlor where his mother would likely be, he was distracted though by two small figures giggling and tearing their way across the corridor. They were holding hands, Sol leading Lysel who seemed to struggle to run before he tugged Sol and dove under a side table with an expensive vase on it. It also had a convenient table cloth to hide them.

Scorpius went over to them and crouched, lifting up the sheet to see the two almost two year olds – their birthday was in two days – sitting with faces smeared with chocolate. Their tiny hands were pulling mashed lumps of what looked like it might've once been chocolate cake out of their pockets, shoving it into their mouths instead. They looked so opposite, Sol's hair was as fair as Lysel's was dark, Sol's face as full as Lysel's was gaunt, Sol was bigger while Lysel was little and he had gleaming golden eyes weighed down by dark bags. Both were smiling though, Sol cried out excitedly when he saw him but the words were indistinguishable due to the fact his mouth was full of cake. Lysel simply put a finger to his lips and shushed Scorpius, he reached out and Scorpius held out his hand curiously where Lysel deposited a lump of chocolate before shushing him again.

"Scorpius, what are you doing?" his grandmother's voice questioned and Scorpius jumped in surprise, hitting his head on the table which had the toddlers giggle before he moved away and stood to face her.

"Being bribed to silence by a baby, I think," Scorpius admitted, glancing distastefully at the brown lump on his hand.

"Oh, right," his grandmother nodded uncertainly before dropping the conversation to go over and give him a hug.

"Sol! Lysel! Get back here!" his mother's voice yelled and they pulled away to see her stalking into the corridor, she smiled when she spotted them though and gave Scorpius a hug, "Oh Scorpius, it's so good to see you, sweetheart. Where's your friend?"

"Father's showing him around," Scorpius informed her.

"Okay. I'm really sorry, we will talk but right now I really have to find your cake-stealing brother and Lysel, it's time for some of his potions," his mother explained apologetically and Scorpius jerked his thumb at the side table they were hiding her, nodding his head in the direction as well. His mother mouthed thank you as she went over, pulling up the cloth to reveal the two who were now licking chocolate off their fingers but froze as they were discovered, "There you are! And what happened to that cake?!"

"Trolls," Lysel lied immediately as his mother pulled him out, Sol also crawling out and standing while his mother sat the werewolf down on the table.

"Trolls?" his grandmother repeated dubiously while his mother took out a vial of blue potion, Scorpius noticed Lysel wink at Sol.

"Big trolls," Sol added as his mother uncorked the bottle.

"Then why is there cake on your faces?" his mother queried with a raised eyebrow, "That was supposed to be for your birthday.

"Whened the trolls comed for the cake, Sol says 'no! That was spuposted to be for the burtday!' and Sol hitted the trolls and the trolls was angry so the trolls hitted the cake with the club," Lysel explained and mimed swinging a club, "And the cake go all over Sol and me's mouthers and we runned and hided under the table and the trolls can't get us."

"Is that so?" his mother wondered, looking rather amused as she gave Lysel the vial, he cringed as he drank it.

"Yes," Sol agreed, nodded vigorously, "Bad trolls."

"Sol and me was the good guys, the trolls was the bad and yell at them not Sol and me," Lysel told her innocently when he'd finished the vial, he flashed them a hopeful chocolatey smile, "The hair on you is prettiful today, Mrs Malfoy."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," his grandmother complained but laughed, shaking her head regardless, "It's almost a shame that kid will die, he'd be quite the charmer if he grew up."

"Come on, let's go find these trolls and get you cleaned up," his mother decided, her amusement fading as his grandmother walked off. She let Lysel down, he high-fived Sol triumphantly and the pair giggled at having gotten away with stealing cake, "Scorpius, can you hold your brother's hand?"

Scorpius went with his mother and Sol, she ended up carrying Lysel because he walked so slowly on shaking legs. He wasn't sure if Lysel was just smarter then Sol or just more articulate in his speech but Sol wasn't as good at holding conversations and Scorpius could only understand half of what he tried to say, they were both cheerful though despite Lysel seeming weak. His father and Michael returned just after they'd finished cleaning the chocolate off them, dinner was just after that and was mostly spent with his parents asking him about how his year was going except this time Michael also had questions thrown at him. Scorpius only managed to finally retreat upstairs with Michael after, he almost regretted it though as Myriam came to pick up her kids. He thought it might be healthy for Michael to talk to another werewolf, one who wasn't a bitter, miserable drunk or a toddler.

"So what do you think?" Scorpius asked of his friend as he led him into his room.

"I think I'm going to get lost a lot," Michael admitted as he sat on the bed, glancing around, "Your Mum seems nice, you take after her. Your Dad was better than I thought considering you have issues with him and I don't think your Grandmother likes me very much. And your room is surprisingly not too different from the dormitory, are photographs by your bed and a poster of a motorcycle all you consider personalization?"

"That's pretty personal," Scorpius insisted as he sat down beside him, "So want to ring over to Varanian and Annie?"

"You really need a better word then 'ring' because muggles use it when talking about phone calls."

"Do you want to go or not?"

"Not. I want to wait until we speak to Crystal tomorrow, find out what's happening with that so I can tell Annie," Michael told him, "If that's okay with you? It's just one more day and today feels like it's been a long one."

"Okay."

* * *

Atticus apparated back to Hogsmeade and trudged solemnly through the snow, the battered town was barely recognizable as the place he'd visited in his youth. It made him feel sad to be there now, especially alone without his children to distract him. The first time he'd been there had been with Brutus in his Third Year, his older brother wanting to show him around. They'd had scoffed down the most expensive chocolate in Honeydukes because… well they'd always money, why not spend it? They'd competed to see who dared go the closest to the Shrieking Shack, ultimately agreeing it was a tie. They'd drooled over the new brooms, Brutus had dragged him away from the bookstore. Brutus treated him to his first Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, he'd blown off his friends to spend the day with his little brother the loser and hadn't ditched him when his friends had asked again in there.

Most people remembered Hogsmeade as the place they had a good time with their mates or the place they went on their first date but for him, he remembered it as a fun time with his brother. His depression had been bad that week to the point he'd decided not to go because he'd just be alone, Brutus had insisted he go and agreed to go with him, he'd really helped pull him out of it. It was the last place they'd been before he learned he was a Death Eater too, the last place before their relationship had gone to hell. And now Brutus was a Soul Eater, the highest ranking one who was working to destroy the world, killing millions, destroying millions more lives. He watched the memory of their younger selves laughing as they walked through the streets, wondering how the hell it had come down to this.

He wiped a tear from his eye before it could fall as he left the village, he couldn't hate his brother. He still loved Brutus and Brutus had proved on several occasions that he felt the same, he was working for the source of all evil but he wasn't all evil himself. He had his own suspicions about why, Brutus was loyal but this was extreme and things Calderon had said now made more sense in context. He thought everyone was wrong, they weren't after Voldemort's son but his daughter. Calderon didn't have a brother, he had a sister and Brutus was in love with her, maybe even had children with her. Atticus couldn't decide if he was better or worse for staying loyal to his lover, he didn't think he would be able to stand by Skye if she was doing that. Was that good or bad? He needed a drink.

He reached Hogwarts and sighed, he was forty-eight and still living in the school. He really should buy a house to leave it like all the other teachers did, it seemed a lot less safe with Calderon gone and a psycho who butchered little girls going around anyway. With a nervous pang, he wondered if it had been such a wise idea to let Cassia stay alone there. He returned to his classroom but Cassia wasn't there, nor in the office or in their quarters. Why did Hogwarts have to be such so damn big? He started searching, going to places he knew she liked but was coming up blank.

"Penny!" Atticus called to the new Transfiguration Professor as he saw her passing, she smiled at him as he reached her. She was very kind and had an unusually pretty smile, "You wouldn't by chance have seen my daughter anywhere, would you?"

"Next floor, hiding behind the statue of the one-eyed witch so her Daddy won't take her to live with her evil not-mother Skye," Penny informed him readily, "But you didn't hear that from me."

"Thank you, you're a life saver," Atticus offered gratefully and continued on to find his daughter, the vulture perched on top of the statue gave it away slightly, "Cassia?"

"I'M NOT GOING!" Cassia yelled immediately.

"I know you're not, you don't have to go anymore," Atticus assured her and she peered around the stature.

"Really?"

"Really," Atticus repeated and sat down on a windowsill, patting it to tell her she should sit too and she did so. He noticed her eyes were red, "Were you crying?"

"No," Cassia lied quickly and wiped her eyes, he pulled her onto his lap and she nestled against him. He sighed, he really needed to deal with this if Cassia was going to let Skye be a mother to her again.

"You can't avoid your mother forever, you know?"

"You're doing okay avoid your father. And she's not my mother."

"I told you before, that's completely different," Atticus insisted and she shrugged disbelievingly, "Besides, I'm an adult. You're still a child."

"That doesn't mean I'm stupid or wrong."

"Then tell me – very calmly and without yelling – what is your problem with Skye?"

"_Everything_," Cassia stated and glanced at him as if it was obvious, "She sent you away, she didn't let us see you, you nearly died because she made you go away, she thinks our entire wizarding race is sick and diseased, she tried to get Shadows to rip my magic out, she actually _did_ let Shadows rip out Antonius' magic, all Antonius' pain and misery is her fault. And then after all that, does she say she was sorry? Does she try to make it up to him? No. She walks away. She left you and she left me and she left Antonius, she walked away from her family. Family is the _most_ important thing, you say, but Skye walked away like we were nothing, she walked away even when you called her name, even when Antonius ran after the car crying and begging her to come back. You don't leave your family, Daddy, you don't!"

"Cassia, you can't blame her for everything. Not all of those things are her fault."

"Yes I can," Cassia protested stubbornly and looked down again, wiping away tears, "I hate her."

"Then why are you crying?" Atticus asked of her and she said nothing, he rubbed her arm gently, "I know what it feels like to be mad at someone because you're hurt by something they did."

"It hurts that she did those things," Cassia admitted quietly, "And mothers aren't supposed to abandon you, she even tried to make it right. I don't want to see her and Antonius and you shouldn't see her again either, she'll just hurt us again. We've been through enough."

"How can she try to make it right if you don't even try to let her?"

"Why should I have to try if you don't try with your daddy?" Cassia countered defensively and he sighed, he didn't think she was going to let this go.

"Alright, I will try with my Father if you try with Skye."

"Okay," Cassia agreed reluctantly, "But I still get to stay with you for Christmas, right?"

"How about you get to stay but you come with me to pick Antonius up so you can see her?" Atticus told her and she looked thoughtfully for a moment, "For me?"

"Okay, Daddy."

"That's my girl," Atticus smiled and kissed the top of her head, she cuddled him. Baby steps.

* * *

**Part 3: **Betrayal

* * *

"Come on, Cel, you should go home," Ron was saying to him as they sat on the couch in Harry's office, Celestine rested his head on his hand with the most depressed expression he should muster, "You don't to rush back into this work."

"I just… I just need something to keep my mind of it, you know?" Celestine lied, looking at the sympathetic man tearfully, "Home doesn't feel like home anymore without her, it's just an empty silent building."

"You have Vale."

"Vale the world's quietest toddler?" Celestine pointed out and Ron nodded in agreement with this, "He'll just be sleeping now anyway."

"So get some rest," Ron offered and clapped him on the back, "You need it, buddy."

"I can't sleep, I just lie there at night and all I can see is her… hanging there," Celestine invented and thought of his dead parents to cause a lump to well in his throat, "I can't believe I didn't know, that I didn't see it. I knew she was upset about Vale but I didn't think…"

"None of us did, you can't blame yourself."

"But she's my wife- _was_ my wife. I should have known," Celestine insisted as his voice broke, "And if I'd jus-just gotten there a bit sooner then-"

"You can't torture yourself with ifs, Cel," Ron interjected seriously, Celestine thought he was completely nailing the grieving, guilt-ridden husband act, "You're not the first to and you're not the last but it never helps. You know what does though?"

"What?" Celestine sniffed and wiped at his eyes.

"A round at the Leaky Cauldron, come on. That will take your mind off this crap, my treat."

"Okay," he agreed but Harry walked in before either of them had made a move, they both tensed up.

"What's up?" Harry wondered of them.

"Nothing," Ron admitted as he shrugged it off.

"Then why are you in my office?"

"Because your couch is comfy," Ron told him truthfully as it was obvious and Harry scratched at his head as they both stood, "In another meeting with Alaric Layton, were you?"

"Yes," Harry sighed before his expression turned more sympathetic as he spotted Celestine, "How you doing?"

"Fine. Great. Terrible. The worst," Celestine reeled off, he could get away being more a jerk because of is 'grief' now, "What do you care? You don't trust me, why should I trust you?"

"It's not about trust, it's just safety," Harry insisted not for the first time while he and Ron started to move over to the door.

"Of course it is, mate," Ron stated sarcastically, "Apparently information isn't safe with us anymore but 'always-absent' Alaric 'I-don't-trust-that-guy' Layton is apparently Gringotts."

"You know what? Fine," Harry snapped and closed the door before they could leave, he whipped out his wand and conjured his silver stag to run circles around them to keep any Specters away so they couldn't overhear, "You _really_ want to know the Secret-Keeper's identity?"

"Yes."

"I guess," Celestine shrugged, hardly daring to hope.

"It's Flannery Leebin, okay?" Harry told them in a hushed down, much to both of their surprise.

"But he's a civilian, not an Auror?"

"He volunteered and Alaric agreed to it like an idiot so just don't say anything, I don't want to get him killed. I'm serious, Ron, not even to Hermione."

"Okay," Ron nodded.

"Got it," Celestine confirmed and put his hand over his mouth as if in thought, it covered his smirk. Things were really lining up for him, Gabrielle died and now he'd get to find Calderon _and_ get rid of the suspicious Leebin all in one go.

"So how are you doing?" Harry asked with concern.

"I miss my wife," Celestine cried with tears of joy.

* * *

_Xerxes nervously approached the door his half-brother apparently lived in, it was a much nicer neighborhood then his mother's had been. He didn't know whether it was that, the fact he'd had no prior contact with his brother or because Hecate's… death had made him feel like life was too short but he didn't feel the urge to flee this time and work up the courage to return like he had before. He took the knocker and politely rapped on it a few times, fidgeting idly because of his nerves before the door opened. He was surprised to be greeted by a boy, maybe ten years old with emerald eyes and grubby brown hair. The boy stared at him blankly as if waiting for him to speak, his eyes unblinking. Was this his brother?_

_"Urm… Hi," Xerxes greeted the silent child whose expression didn't change, "Are you called Pyrrhus Florian by any chance?"_

_"No," the boy scoffed as if it were obvious, "He's my brother."_

_"Ah well, good. Is he in?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Can I speak to him?"_

_"No."_

_"What about your father? Is he in?" Xerxes questioned instead, thinking that was a more logical route to take._

_"Yes."_

_"Can I speak to him?"_

_"No."_

_"Well why not?!" Xerxes demanded irritably._

_"He's busy," the boy told him, shifting uncomfortably, "With Pyrrhus."_

_"Can't you just tell him there's someone here to see him?"_

_"I don't wanna," the boy whined and averted his eyes, "Can't you just talk to me? I'm way better then Pyrrhus, he likes girly gymnastics and boring history. But I don't, last week I scored a goal in football. And it wasn't an own goal this time!"_

_"Well I'm sure that's very nice, kid-"_

_"Marvin," the boy corrected with a smile._

_"-Marvin but you see, Pyrrhus is my brother. We have the same Mummy. Do you understand?" _

_"Are you a witch too?" Marvin asked him, his eyes shooting to him with interest, "I want to be a witch."_

_"Wizard. Boys are called wizards," Xerxes corrected him and Marvin ogled him, looking impressed, "And yes, I am so if you don't let me in and tell your father that I'm here then I'll turn you into a toad."_

_Marvin couldn't scramble to get out of the way fast enough, he let Xerxes into the comfortable sitting room while the boy bolted upstairs. Xerxes closed the door behind him and went to sit, glancing around and seeing an abundance of plant life but it was neat and clean, except for some toys on the coffee table that Marvin had problem been playing with. Marvin ran back down the stairs a few minutes later._

_"Daddy said he'd be down in a minute when he's finished," Marvin informed him and Xerxes felt a pang of relief, "Would you like a drink while you wait?"_

_"No, I'm okay," Xerxes brushed it off and Marvin nodded before kneeling down by the table with the toys._

_"Do you want to play with me?" Marvin asked of him cheerfully and offered him one of the toys, some plastic man dressed in commando gear, "You can be Captain strong, he's the best. I want to be like him when I grow up, he's bigger and stronger and gets to beat up the other guys then fuck them."_

_"What did you say?!" Xerxes gasped in shock at the language and use of it, Marvin looked confused, "What game is this?"_

_"Love."_

_"Marvin, come here," Xerxes offered instead, feeling rather disturbed and patting the seat beside him. _

_"Well okay," Marvin agreed and went over to sit beside him, "If I do what you want can you turn me into a wizard?"_

_"No, you're either with magic or you're not."_

_"I can still give you a magical time," Marvin whispered and reached out to put his hand on Xerxes' leg, he grabbed the boy's hand and caught his eye._

_Xerxes then delved into his mind and immediately wished he hadn't, it was the most disturbing mind he'd ever jumped into. Hecate had been very wrong, Linden Florian was not a good man. He was a pedophile, he'd been abusing his three sons for a long time and the eldest boy took after him except with a more sadistic, violent streak. They'd abused his poor brother, they were abusing him right now. He tore himself free of Marvin's mind, he wanted to throw up and scrub the inside of his mind out with soap. Forget just meeting his brother, he couldn't leave Pyrrhus there when he was going to be suffering through that. _

_"What?" Marvin questioned of him, looking puzzled. _

_Xerxes opened his mouth to speak but was distracted as he laid eyes on his brother for the first time, well for the first time with his own eyes. He was thirteen and looked quite young for his age, his skin not touched by acne probably helped with that. His short hair was crimson and his violet eyes red as if he'd been crying, he had his arms wrapped protectively around himself and walked with his head hung. He was walking behind the sorry excuse he had for a father, a lanky man with hair already gray and a satisfied smile on his face. _

_Xerxes felt a burst of rage, how dare this filthy muggle defile his brother?! His magical brother?! And those other two muggle kids he had. Not to mention the fact that as a father himself, Linden was a disgrace to fathers everywhere! He was on his feet before he realized it, wand in hand and a spell already shooting out. It struck Linden and he went flying, smashing – hopefully painfully – through the bannisters and into the wall, he fell from it and bounced down the stairs. He groaned at the foot of the stairs, cringing from whatever wounds he'd received. Neither of Linden's sons made any attempt to help him, Marvin smirked while Pyrrhus just looked fearful as if expecting to be next._

_"I know what you are and I know what you did!" Xerxes screamed at him furiously, his wand quivering in his hand, "You're not going to lay a hand on my brother ever again!"_

_"O-Okay, I-I won't, I-I promise," Linden stammered out fearfully but Xerxes could tell it was a lie, he risked a peek inside his mind and saw he was already fantasizing about doing it again._

_"You're sick! You're sick! You're sick! You're just sick!" Xerxes shouted incredulously, if he had no intention of stopping when a wizard was attacking him then there was no way he'd keep his word when Xerxes left. He couldn't leave his brother here, "I'm taking Pyrrhus!"_

_"What!? No! You can't take my son!"_

_"Try and stop me, muggle! Pyrrhus, pack whatever things you want because you're leaving. Now!" Xerxes snapped and Pyrrhus apparently agreed the total stranger was a safer bet then staying because he ran back up the stairs, Marvin bolting after him._

_"Please don't take my son, I love him," Linden pleaded desperately, trying to stand but failing as his leg looked twisted. Good, "I need him, he's my favorite. We can share-"_

_"Crucio! Crucio! Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!" Xerxes cast and Linden started screaming as he flailed wildly, he only stopped the torture when Pyrrhus started coming down the stairs with a rucksack slung over his shoulder with Marvin behind him with his own bag, he finally lowered his wand while Linden continued to sob as his body shook, "Come on."_

_"Where are you taking us, sir?" Pyrrhus asked nervously and Xerxes stopped in front of the door, realizing Pyrrhus didn't know his name._

_"Does it matter?" Xerxes wondered and Pyrrhus looked thoughtful for a second before shaking his head while Marvin grabbed his toys off the table, "And my name is Xerxes by the way, Xerxes Seneca. I'm your half-brother by your mother."_

_"I'm Pyrrhus," Pyrrhus admitted quietly, looking as if he was hardly daring to hope, "Thank you. Thank you so much."_

_"Let's go already," Marvin insisted and Xerxes glanced at him in confusion._

_"You're not going," Xerxes told him seriously and the boy looked as if he'd been slapped in the face._

_"But… But why?"_

_"Because you're not my brother and you're a muggle," Xerxes pointed out truthfully and Marvin's eyes welled with tears, Marvin's mind was already somewhat twisted anyway. Besides, he had no connection to the boy or reason to take him, what would he even do with a muggle in a magical school? He wouldn't be surprised if they killed him, "I'm sorry your life sucks but I can't do anything about it."_

_"Pyrrhus, don't let him leave me."_

_"Xerx-"_

_"You can stay here with one brother or leave with another, you can't have both," Xerxes interjected before Pyrrhus could defend his brother, "He can't come where we're going."_

_"You're not going to leave me are you, Pyrrhus?" Marvin whined at his brother, Pyrrhus hung his head looking incredibly torn, "Pyrrhus, don't leave me. You need to protect me, you have to."_

_"Decide faster, I don't have all day."_

_"I-I'm sorry, Marvin," Pyrrhus apologized tearfully as he looked back up, every line on his face was ingrained with guilt, "But I can't… I just can't do this anymore, I'm going to go mad if I stay. I'm so sorry."_

_"No!" Marvin yelled and stomped his feet, angry tears filling his eyes, "You can't go without me!"_

_"I'll come back for you," Pyrrhus promised truthfully, "I'll come back for you as soon as I can, I promise."_

_"Don't bother!" Marvin spat and threw down his things, "I hate you! I hate you all, wizards! If I ever see a wizards then… then I'll shoot them in the head! Shoot them dead! Because you're all bad and I hate you! I hate you!"_

_"Marv-" Pyrrhus started to say but the younger boy had already stormed off in the direction of the stairs._

_"Marvy, sweetheart, if you would just get Daddy the phone," Linden pleaded with the boy in passing but Marvin kicked him in the head._

_"I hate you too!" Marvin screamed at him before storming up the stairs while Linden was too busy spitting blood out of his mouth._

_Xerxes took that as his cue to leave and led Pyrrhus out of the door, closing it behind him and magically locking it to make sure Pyrrhus didn't run back instead because he still looked guilty. Xerxes glanced at his brother and frowned worriedly, the boy really must be a pathetic excuse for a wizard to allow a muggle to abuse him and he was a wizard not a squib because he'd seen as much in Marvin's memories. He also wondered what the hell he had just done, he didn't want to be responsible for his damaged teenage brother. Pyrrhus looked at him expectantly though, he still couldn't just leave him there. Damn him and his good heart, he'd just have to figure something out. He sighed and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, disapparating them both far away from there._

* * *

Antonius was feeling incredibly nervous, he knew he shouldn't be and in fact it was rather stupid to feel that way, who felt nervous about seeing their mother? And yet, he couldn't help it. He hadn't seen his mother in so long and he was terrified of ruining his chance to make her like him again. His father's words did make him feel somewhat better but he was still anxious, maybe his father was wrong about how his mother would feel. He didn't know.

He couldn't decide whether he felt better or worse that Cassia wouldn't be there, on one hand he was guaranteed time with his mother and she wouldn't be spending every second dealing with Cassia. Cassia behaving for Skye wasn't something he found easy to imagine considering her current state of mind, even before she'd turned on Skye she'd not been easy to deal with. On the other hand, Cassia needed to see Skye to get along with her again and it was more pressure with just him alone with her. He also wished Hope could've been there, stroking her was calming but his mother hadn't wanted her there.

He was really clueless on how to greet her, normally he'd hug his mother if he'd been a part from her but… Two and a half years. It felt like a long time to him and he felt like a lot had happened in that time, he wasn't the same boy his mother had walked away from. She didn't try to hug him either, they just stared at each other until his father broke the silence. A short conversation later and he was alone with her in the house, he barely recognized the narrow hallway and not because of his memory.

"It looks different," Antonius observed quietly as he stood staring at the hallway.

"The fire destroyed pretty much everything, I had to buy all things and redecorate it, a lot of it had to be rebuilt too," Skye told him and Antonius felt stupid for not thinking of that, he felt his stomach curl up in knots. Now she thought he was stupid, "So it looks different, muggles can't magic everything back to normal that fire destroys."

"Wizards can't either," Antonius pointed out, thinking of Varanian being mangled by the flames and Scorpius' hand. Both of them were still all scarred, "Magic can't do everything."

"I'm sure it can't," Skye muttered and glanced at her watch, looking about as nervous as he felt, "Are… Are you thirsty?"

"I… I could drink."

"Good, I'll just put your things in your room and get you one. We can talk and catch up, I'd love to hear how you're doing," Skye offered with a somewhat forced enthusiasm, Antonius felt his insides twist up again. Was he doing something wrong and making her feel awkward or was she just also nervous like he was?

"Sounds good."

Skye headed upstairs and Antonius took the time to look around the ground floor, the living room on the left was the closest to looking the same as he remembered. There was the same mantelpiece, the couch, armchairs and television were all in the same places. They were just different styles and colors to when he'd lived there, there was also very few photographs now and none of the Ashains. On the right was the kitchen/dining room which had changed more drastically, the kitchen had been completely redone and was laid out differently, he couldn't tell if the dining area had been given less space or it was just that the beech table was rather large. There was a radio in there, still on.

"-_This is ridiculous!_" someone on the radio was saying, sounding very angry and passionate, "_Greece, Turkey, Egypt and now Cyprus have fallen, when are the world leaders going to wake up and do something?! These Soul Eaters are starting to take over the actual world, who is next and why is no one stopping them!? What do they have that we don't?! Whatever they do have, they're just getting stronger and growing in power the longer they're left to their own devices. While our leaders sit on their hands, we are sitting ducks. They've taken four countries in a year and a half, everyone's completely cut off, it's causing major disruption for the economy and planes are crashing if they try to fly over it. These people aren't stopping and they're not going to stop! Someone has to take action!"_

"_I can see you're very passionate about this, Ted_," a calmer voice on the radio commented, "_But what do you say to the argument that it's not our country's responsibility to help these other countries and it'll just put them as targets?"_

"_And to that I say: what did Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus do to put themselves as targets?"_ the first voice spoke out again, presumably Ted, "_Nothing, Joe, but they were attacked anyway. We don't know what these people want or what country these people want next but I think it's obvious that they're not going to stop unless someone stops them_."

"_I have to agree with Ted there, Joe_," a nasally female voice contributed, "_And am the only one who finds it suspicious that our world leaders are doing nothing? It's almost like they know something we don't, I don't think we're being told everything_-"

"Sorry about that," Skye commented as she clicked the radio off, ending the discussion, "Forgot to turn it off. Do you want a nice warm cup of Hot Chocolate or some Lemonade?"

"Hot Chocolate," Antonius decided and slid into one of the seats at the table while his mother started to make the drinks, feeling rather solemn because of the news, "I didn't know Cyprus had fallen."

"It was announced today, you're too young to be worrying about that stuff though," Skye said and Antonius had to resist the urge to give a snort of amusement, he was too involved to _not_ worry about it. Skye finished making the drinks and carried them over, putting a mug in front of him and sitting opposite with her own. He pulled it over to him and noticed little marshmallows sprinkled on the top, Skye smiled at him wistfully, "I remember you used to like it with little marshmallows. Of course your sister didn't, she only liked it the way Daddy did it. Even though it's exactly the same."

"Thank you," Antonius offered as he sipped his drink and Skye watched him with watery eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I just didn't realize how much I missed you until I saw you again," Skye admitted and reached out to squeeze his hand as the tears leaked from her eyes, "I love you so much, Tony, and don't you _ever _forget that. Do you understand me? Whatever happens, you're my son and I love."

"I love you too, Mum," Antonius told her tearfully, relief and joy flooding his veins at the thought his mother did still love, "But it's Antonius."

"How touching," a voice he hadn't heard for a while commented.

Antonius jumped up in an instant, spinning to see the old Transfiguration professor leaning casually in the doorway. Pyrrhus Florian. He looked actually younger than the last time Antonius had seen him, his skin was smoother and his hair was no longer gray but a fiery mane that reached past his shoulders. He had heard he'd been using an aging potion to mask his youth though, apparently he had. He had the same wiry frame and the same violently violet eyes, he was dressed in muggle clothes rather than robes though. Antonius didn't know what he wanted but he didn't think it was good.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the edge of table to throw it onto its side to act as a barricade which caused Skye to jump to her feet. Good, he had to protect his mother and she was safer behind it. He grabbed her and pulled her behind the table, he stood protectively in front of her and drew his wand from its invisible holster to aim it at Florian. His heart was pounding in his ears but he wasn't moving, Florian was ogling his wand.

"Stay down, Mum!" Antonius called over his shoulder and Florian opened his mouth to speak but spoke, "_Petrificus Totalis!"_

Florian leaped out of the way of his perfectly placed spell, laughing. Antonius supposed he didn't blame him, he'd learned that people didn't think a ten year old holding a wand was threatening. He thought they should be though, he may not be much but his wand was powerful and had a habit of doing useful things. Not that he really thought he could beat Florian, in fact unless his father miraculously had forgotten something… He didn't think this would end well, he'd be damned if he was going to lie down and die though. Especially when his mother's life was also at risk.

"Daddy been teaching you a few tricks, boy?" Florian questioned curiously, "It's good, we want you to have a bit of fight in you."

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ Antonius tried instead, waving his wand wildly to try confuse Florian what he had been aiming for.

It worked, Florian looked puzzled for a second before Antonius wrenched his wand downwards and the chunk of ceiling he'd targeted was ripped down as well. Florian yelped in surprise and his mother shrieked but the redhead disapparated with a crack before he could be crushed. He heard the accompanying pop to announce Florian had appeared behind him, he turned in time to be hit by something and was thrown violently back against the wall. It hurt and hurt again when he thudded back to the ground, his body aching, his head spinning and the coppery taste of his own blood in his mouth. He grabbed his wand and jumped back up, sure he'd die if he didn't keep fighting.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him!" Skye yelled and Antonius froze.

"I'm still going to defend myself if I'm attacked!" Florian protested and Antonius' eyes drifted between his mother and the psycho who'd killed McGonagall and Nick, his mother wasn't hiding in fear nor trying to protect him, not even trying to run away.

"I don't understand," Antonius whispered disbelievingly as he lowered his wand, meeting his mother's guilt-ridden eyes, "You're selling out your _own_ son? You lured me here and pretended to care just to pawn me off to the raging psychopath?"

"Tony, he's going to kill my brother if you don't go with him," Skye told him as she approached him, looking desperate and tearful again. She tried to touch his shoulder gently but he tore himself away angrily, "You don't want your Uncle Jasper to die do you?! He promised he wouldn't hurt you, he just needs you for something."

"Cassia's right about you, you know?" Antonius spat at her as tears pricked his own eyes, experiencing a soul shattering feeling of absolute betrayal and his scar screamed in pain as if in agreement, "I never understood before, I always defended you but she was right. You are the worst, you don't deserve to be called my mother."

"Tony, please-"

"MY NAME IS NOT TONY!" Antonius screamed at her furiously, stepping back from her, "It's Antonius. Antonius Brutus Ashain. And you know, even my evil Shadow Lieutenant Uncle Brutus is more loyal to his family then you are."

"Yeah, Skye, geez," Florian scoffed in agreement, "You suck."

"You're the one who made me do it!" Skye shrieked at him.

"And? You still suck," Florian said with a shrug before smiling psychotically at Antonius, "So what's it going to be, kid? Throw down your wand, come with me willingly and I don't kill your not-evil non-Shadow not-Lieutenant Uncle Jasper or I duel you into submission and kill all your muggle relatives?"

"Just take me away from her," Antonius said, feeling nothing but hurt as he threw down his wand for Florian, the former professor picked up it up and glanced at it admiringly before pocketing it.

"Let's go then."

"What about my brother?" Skye asked worriedly and Florian sighed.

The former professor rolled his eyes as he withdrew a phone from his pocket, he pressed a few buttons before tossing it to her. It must have been used to contact his accomplice before a second later, a muscular dark haired man with sapphiric eyes was stepping out of the shadows in the doorway with his uncle. Uncle Jasper had his hands tied in front of him, his blond hair had been cut ruthlessly short since the last time he'd seen him but otherwise he seemed the same. He blinked the same sea-green eyes as Skye and glanced around, his eyes widened in panic when he saw him while Skye looked somewhat relieved.

"See, unhurt? I can return people unhurt," Florian stated as if he expected to not be believed, "Your brother for your son, that's the deal."

"What?! No deal!" Uncle Jasper shot out immediately, "Take me, leave my nephew alone! He's just a child."

"You're not in position to be making demands, we don't even want you."

"He promised he won't hurt him and he'll give him back," Skye told him, sounding rather pathetically like she was trying to convince herself of this.

His uncle looked incredulous and the accomplice pushed him forward, apparently a sign of the tradeoff. Uncle Jasper was seemingly not content to be a pawn in this, he caught Antonius' eye and gave the slightest of jerks of his head in the direction of the door. Then without warning, he threw himself at the accomplice to knock him down and out of the way of the doorway.

"Run, Tony, run!" Uncle Jasper yelled at him.

Antonius bolted with the slightest bit of hesitation, feeling guilty for leaving his uncle but Florian had said they didn't want him and had clearly just been using him to get Antonius. That meant they shouldn't him, right…? He had no time to dwell as he hurtled down the narrow corridor and out into the cold street, running desperately and wishing he'd still had his wand. There was a pop though and Florian appeared in front of him, Antonius tried to avoid him but the former professor grabbed him and jabbed a wand into his throat when he tried to struggle.

Florian apparated them back inside the hallway and kicked the front door shut behind him, Uncle Jasper was now bound behind his back and on the floor with a bloody lip. The accomplice was standing over him with a wand on him, Skye was standing in the doorway looking panicked as her eyes darted around fearfully.

"You're not going to try run away from me again, do you understand?" Florian hissed into his ear, "I think you need a demonstration of what happens if you do. _Avada Kedavra_."

"NO!" Antonius screamed but was helpless to stop it. He'd been wrong. He was a fool.

Florian jabbed his wand at his bound uncle on the floor, there was a deafening whooshing sound and a burst of green light that seemed to reach every corner of the room. And then his Uncle Jasper was dead. Antonius felt tears well in his eyes, he hadn't ever been especially close to his uncle but the fact he hadn't seen him in over two years but the man had tried to save his life said a lot about the kind of person he was. The kind of person who hadn't deserved to die like that, hadn't deserved to die because of him. Skye fell to the ground, sobbing over her brother's body while the accomplice threw Florian an irritated look.

"Do you understand now, Antonius?" Florian asked in his ear as tears rolled down Antonius' cheeks, "If you don't do what I want or try to escape again then I _will _kill someone. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Antonius admitted quietly.

"And Skye," Florian spoke to Skye instead, his mother glanced at him fearfully, "Muggles killed your brother and took your son when he tried to save him, if you tell anyone it was wizards then I'll kill your little boy and your boyfriend and then you. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Skye sobbed, "Don't hurt my son."

"Make it look more like a muggle attack," Florian commanded to the accomplice before disapparating them both, taking him far away from there.

* * *

**Part 4: **Familiar Faces

* * *

Scorpius woke early the next morning, slightly surprised to find himself in his room not the Hogwarts dormitory. Not early enough apparently as when he went downstairs, his mother was already having breakfast with Michael and Sol. They were having an animated discussion about healing magic while Sol drooled scrambled eggs onto himself, his father and grandmother were nowhere to be seen. Scorpius was lost for most of it but he was glad they seemed to be getting along, he really didn't know enough about healing magic.

"So I was thinking about taking Michael into Diagon Alley," Scorpius spoke up, both to change the subject and because they'd need to get away from his parents to meet Crystal.

"Yeah, I missed the last Hogsmeade weekend because of the full moon so I really need to go to get some stuff," Michael added in agreement.

"Well we could all-"

"Mother, come on, do you really want to be wandering around in the cold?" Scorpius interjected, "We'll take the Knight Bus, and we'll be together. It'll be fine."

"We'll be back as soon as we can, we can move faster alone," Michael assured her, looking very hard like he was trying not to ask what the Knight Bus was, "Please, Mrs Malfoy?"

"Well… Alright," his mother reluctantly agreed, "Just be back by dinner at the latest."

They nodded their agreement and thanks before the conversation resumed, they finished off their breakfast before leaving. Since it was only morning – apparently Crystal's meeting was around lunch time – and his mother would be expecting things to have been bought, they did actually go to Diagon Alley first to get the things. After the conversation with Crystal, Scorpius figured it was the perfect time to visit Varanian to fill him in then they just needed to make sure to be back by dinner. Simple. Scorpius had already done his Christmas shopping so there wasn't much to do, Michael bought a lot less than he did and insisted on paying himself for no reason despite the fact Scorpius had more money and was quite willing to give some over.

He was surprised to find security had been increased there, including a search – not unlike Cistro's – to get into Diagon Alley in the first place and there were more Aurors patrolling as well which put him on edge as he knew some were Shadows. He was relieved when they could leave to go meet Crystal and took the Knight Bus once more, apparently at a random muggle park in a random town. They found the place and Scorpius could only hope Michael's Dyslexia hadn't led him wrong as they sat in wait, on a random bench in the cold.

"I can't wait until we can use magic outside Hogwarts," Scorpius said with a sigh, "I could warm us both up."

"I can't wait until we can legally order alcohol," Michael admitted half to himself but seemed to immediately regret it at the dirty look Scorpius threw him, "And you know what else? Not knowing how to shave is finally working for me because it's keeping my face warm."

"You have to stop drinking, Michael."

"I'm not drinking, I'm sitting on a bench."

"I'm serious," Scorpius insisted and his friend rolled his eyes, "You're drinking for all the wrong reasons and you can't even drink responsibly, you're going to hurt someone one of these days, maybe even yourself and drink yourself into an early grave."

"Good."

"Michael-"

"Michael?" a woman's voice questioned and they both jolted in surprise to see Crystal Sanford approaching them, she smiled when she saw her son and Michael moved to go hug her where he was now the taller of the pair. Scorpius thought she was looking quite good, in a healthy kind of way, "It's so good to see you. How are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Michael brushed it off and pulled away, he gestured to Scorpius, "You remember my friend, Scorpius?"

"Of course, how ar-"

"So what's the deal with pretending to be dead?" Michael interrupted before she'd finished her sentence, "Why do people think you're dead? Why is John Avery giving me letters? What is going on?!"

"Okay, you deserve an explanation and I guess Scorpius as well," Crystal nodded and pointed out a picnic bench for them to sit at instead since there was more seats.

They moved over there and Scorpius looked around for passersby but no one was around. Who would be? It was freezing and had started to snow. She then launched into her explanation, the abductions, Florian looking for Jack, John Avery helping her and ultimately how he'd helped them fake their deaths to stop the Shadows coming after them. By the time she was done, Scorpius was feeling much colder and it had nothing to do with the poor weather. Scorpius was wondering what in the world the mad defector Pyrrhus Florian could possibly want with the Specter-charged serial killer Jack Thorne, Michael's first question had absolutely nothing to do with any of that though.

"So what you're dating this John guy?" Michael demanded of her irritably.

"No," she said immediately, sounding truthful albeit surprised, "Of course not, we're just… just friends. He's a great guy though and all, I'm sure you'll like him, the little ones all love him. Except maybe Bertie but you can never tell with Bertie."

"Is that why he took Agnes to Hogsmeade before?" Scorpius questioned, recalling Albus claiming to have seen them.

"That was to get her a wand because he knows a guy who'll see to younger ages, can you believe she's a witch? Bertie too but he's too young."

"Agnes and Bertie are not magical," Michael snapped.

"Yes they are, Agnes can do magic with her wand now and John tested Bertie. They're magical."

"Well maybe John is lying to you just to screw with you and they're not magical!"

"Why would he do that?"

"What is your problem?" Scorpius wondered almost at the same time as Crystal's question, Michael either thought she'd asked it or just directed the answer at his mother anyway.

"My problem is that every guy you date turns out to be a stark-raving psychopath!" Michael yelled at her, "And John will be just the same!"

"I'm not dating John!" Crystal protested once more and for the first time, Scorpius rather wished he was somewhere else, "And he's not a psychopath! He saved our lives and he's still helping us, you really would have no family if not for him."

"He's just going to hurt you, and me, _and_ the little ones! Just like all the guys you date-"

"I'm not dating him!"

"No, you're just living in his house, letting him help raise your children, sharing a bed with him-"

"Michael!" Crystal and Scorpius burst out in warning in unison, apparently both thinking he'd gone too far. Michael sulkily and childishly folded his arms, inducing an awkward silence.

"I want you to come home and stay with your family," Crystal said finally, breaking the silence.

"I already agreed to stay with Scorpius," Michael shot out immediately.

"I don't mean just for the break, I mean don't go back to Hogwarts. John's niece died there, it's not safe anymore. We're best just sticking together, the world's in a bad way. John can teach you like he does Agnes, while he can."

"While he can?"

"He was hit by this the Festering Curse while saving Ivy, its slowly killing him," Crystal admitted sadly, Scorpius just thought it was strange to hear a muggle talking about magical things, "Haven't found a way to cure it yet and St Mungo's don't treat people with that Dark Mark."

"Well… No," Michael told her thoughtfully, thankfully more calmly and seeming to just ignore the fact John was dying. Then again, they didn't really know the guy so sympathies were limited, "I can't just leave my friends and my education, I thought I would fail my OWLs but I didn't. I should at least try for my NEWTs, its better I'm at Hogwarts."

"I understand," Crystal nodded in understanding and sighed wistfully, "I'd rather you stay but it's your decision and I respect it, you can always change your mind. How about you at least stay for the last week of the holidays?"

"How about a few days? And not Christmas, that'd be suspicious."

"Okay."

"Okay."

After that the conversation shifted to more mundane topics or at least things Scorpius already knew, Crystal wanted to know how Michael's year was going so far which he was aware of. He tried to bring up Florian again but as he'd secretly suspected, it was too much to hope for that he'd revealed his plans to her about why he wanted Jack. Thankfully, Michael seemed to have moved past his random outburst against John so the conversation was somewhat more pleasant. It had to come to a close though, the Sanfords went their separate ways and it was time to ring over to Varanian's hideout.

"So do you want to tell me what that was about?" Scorpius asked of him as they started trudging through the slushy snow.

"What was what about?" Michael wondered.

"You going off on Crystal about John."

"I don't know, Scorpius, I guess I just feel like my family has been through enough. Okay?" Michael said in a tone that made it hard to tell whether he was sarcastic or serious.

"Okay so you need to focus on the circle, you need to keep your destination in mind still and be completely determined to get there," Varanian's voice was saying and Scorpius noticed he was standing up ahead with Annie and Austin, the latter of whom was staring with intense focus on the ground in front of him while Annie started to laugh, "What?"

"This is stupid," Annie complained still laughing while Austin threw her a murderous look, "Like this is actually how people learn to teleport."

"Apparate," Austin corrected her testily.

"It _is_," Varanian insisted, "You just need to focus so turn your attention back to the circles."

"This is boring," Annie sighed while Austin went back to staring intensely at the ground.

"If you can feel bored then you're not putting all you energy into focusing," Varanian stated seriously and opened his mouth to speak again but started laughing once more, "What now?!"

"You're so serious. And this still feels stupid. And you know, I think drinking actually helped my ADHD."

"Well who cares so shut up and focus," Austin snapped at her, "I've wanted to learn to apparate since I saw McGonagall disapparate after she came to my house when I was eleven years old to give me my Hogwarts letter so stop screwing it up!"

"Close your eyes if it helps block out distractions," Varanian offered more gently to Annie who sighed again as she closed her eyes while Austin went back to his intense concentration, "Now focus on the circle and how much you're determined to get there, you want to be in that circle more than anything else in the world-"

"Why don't I just step into it?" Annie wondered curiously.

"Oh my god!" Austin exclaimed in frustration.

"You can't walk, teleport- _apparating_ into the circle is the only way to undo the spell so you want to get there," Varanian continued, "But you know don't be upset if you fail the first time, it's very difficult to do and requires a lot of practice."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, next step."

"Okay, when I saw go you need to relax and turn on spot, moving with deliberation and mentally propelling yourself into your circle."

"How am I supposed to relax if I'm focusing?" Annie questioned.

"Just do it."

Annie must have taken Varanian's comment as the signal for go because she turned and there was a sound like a gunshot, in the next instance Annie appeared on the ground in front of her. She opened her eyes in surprise while Austin started turning randomly but seemed to be failing, Annie grinned.

"I did it!" Annie exclaimed excitedly.

"Well done but that first time could be a fluke, you need to keep practicing it," Varanian insisted and Annie stepped back out of what presumably must be a circle drawn onto the ground, she spun again and there was another crack as she reappeared in the same spot, "Lucky."

It appeared for once, Varanian was actually wrong. Annie consistently seemed capable of apparating into the selected spot, Austin wasn't having as much luck but after several times he also apparated in front of him. A grin split his face and Annie gave him a high five, if they could do it then Scorpius was sure he'd get it easy. Once he'd achieved it one, Austin also seemed to be able to get it almost every time like Annie. Varanian had folded his arms and was looking quite grumpy rather than pleased at how quickly they'd succeeded.

"So this is real difficult, huh?" Annie wondered sardonically, "Hey Pip, how long did it take you to apparate?"

"It took me shut up and try again," Varanian quipped and Annie smiled at him in amusement before turning on the spot, this time she didn't reappear in her circle but right in front of Varanian who had to grab her to steady her. Austin rolled his eyes and headed off in the direction of the base, "See? You missed the circle, it's harder than you think."

"Maybe I wasn't aiming for the circle."

Annie gave him another small smile as she encircled her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips against his, Varanian pulled her closer as he kissed her back much to Scorpius' surprise. Not as much as Michael apparently as he gave a strangled gasp, Scorpius punched him in the arm gently to shut him up. He was glad Varanian was apparently trying to move on from his dead wife, Scorpius thought he deserved to be happy.

"You're not going to have a problem with Varanian now too, are you?" Scorpius asked him in a whisper.

"No. I'm just weirded out," Michael admitted also quietly, "And it better not be serious, I don't want to wind up with Varanian for an uncle."

"Why not? He'd be the best uncle. I wish he was my uncle."

"Well of course you would think that, he's a father figure to you."

"I told you before, I don't-"

"Scorpius?" Varanian questioned and Scorpius jumped, seeing their leader approaching them. He was a metamorphmagi so could like anyone but he had his usual appearance today, tall and lanky with scruffy tawny hair and piercing silver eyes, his burn scars hidden, "How long have you been there?"

"Just arrived," Scorpius lied, deciding to leave out how they'd watched the apparation lesson and seen them kiss. It was really none of their business after all, "And we have important news."

"We've found out some things too."

"Hi Pip, how are you? Good thanks, how are you, Scorpius? I'm great, Hogwarts is a breeze," Annie quipped and they both looked at her oddly, "It's called making polite conversation, you know rather than just cutting to the chase. It's something humans do."

"Well thanks for that," Varanian said slowly, seemingly thinking on the same lines as Scorpius about that being pointless, "Come on, Scorpius."

They headed back to the hideout which was thankfully nice and warm inside, Scorpius hadn't realized how cold and numb he was feeling until the warmth started seeping back into his bones. Varanian didn't take him to the basement as usual but rather into the… living kind of room except it had his boards of information as well as couches for sitting on, Michael as well and Annie appeared later with mugs of hot chocolate for them that she slid surreptitiously into their hands before sitting as well. Scorpius had launched into his account of what Crystal had told them about Florian and his interest in Jack, he also recounted the attempts on the Scamander's life and finally the stuff about Martha.

"Interesting," Varanian mused thoughtfully, "But you're wrong, Martha could very well still be the killer or at least that the Shadows shared in their suspicions of you."

"Why?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"Because the Shadows aren't trying to kill you or the Scamanders, in fact it's quite the opposite. They want you to live because of your scarred wrists and connection to the Shadow Master, they're trying to protect you. They think Florian is behind it all since you're part of Gray so it's not us, being his niece they suspect Martha but their operative screwed up so they still don't know if she's innocent or not."

"Why would Florian want to kill us anyway? Because of a sealed connection?"

"They don't know and neither do we," Varanian admitted, "It may be possible he could tap into your magic through Maurice who is the only one unsealed but it would be more difficult, not to mention completely pointless with the Scepter as a power well to tap into easily."

"Well they are after Calderon, maybe Florian also wants him to try get the Scepter off his brother again?" Scorpius guessed but Varanian shook his head.

"The Shadow Master's stopped using Polyjuice with the Scepter to prevent that happening again, if they stand against each other again then he'll stand as himself so the Scepter won't see Calderon as the truer heir. It'd probably stay with him in fact since he's used it more."

"Maybe Florian doesn't know that because not everyone is a genius like we are," Annie offered.

"Maybe but if he's planning on going after the Shadow Master then he damn well better have a good plan or he's going to be obliterated. What I don't know is where Jack fits into this."

"Maybe he's hoping to just bypass dueling to destroying the Shadow Master's soul?" Scorpius guessed but Varanian shook his head.

"This is _the_ Shadow Master," Varanian pointed out, "He knows how to handle, destroy and deal with Specters which Jack is in part. He wouldn't stand a chance, the Shadow Master was that before the Scepter or the wrist scars so that wouldn't have an impact. If he's going to use Jack like that anyway then there's no reason to kill the scarred wrists."

"What else could he possibly need him for?" Michael asked.

"I don't know," Varanian admitted with a sigh as he leaned back, "There's still too many maybes and unknowns, even when we learn new things they're not puzzle pieces that are fitting in."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Annie assured him and reached out to squeeze his hand gently.

"Is Wyatt in?" Scorpius inquired, "I'd like to speak to him about becoming an animagi and all. Or Molly. Because she's my girlfriend."

"Molly's out, Wyatt's in," Varanian told him as he stood, "I'll take you to him."

"I know where Wyatt's room is," Scorpius pointed out as they left Michael with his aunt.

"I know, I just figured they could use some privacy."

"Hey Scor," Wyatt offered cheerfully as he wandered into the kitchen before Scorpius could head upstairs to his room, unlike his father he was friendly, "What's up?"

"I'm an animagus," Scorpius told him proudly and Wyatt's grin widened, he excitedly offered him a high five that Scorpius took.

"Sweet! I told you that you were close. What animal?"

"Thestral."

"Nice," Wyatt applauded him while Varanian walked off, "You are going to have to train intensely over this break, get you mastering it and able to transform at will before you get back to Hogwarts. When you don't need spells anymore and it's just natural to you, the Ministry won't be able to detect it with your Trace."

"Good to know," Scorpius admitted, he hadn't been aware of that. That could come in useful.

Wyatt then dragged him off to practice, Scorpius felt much more at ease training with Wyatt because he was an animagus and not only knew exactly what to do but had been through the same thing himself. He only stopped when Michael went to get him because they'd need to be leaving to keep his promise to his mother to be back by dinner time, he did so although didn't feel much like eating dinner because he was full of gummy worms that Wyatt had kept giving him to reward him for his success.

Scorpius actually didn't mind returning home to the Manor so much with Michael there, he was nice having his friend to talk to at dinner and they spent the rest of the evening relaxing by the fire and playing Wizard's Chess to take Michael's mind off things. They didn't get much chance to get away the next day but then Scorpius hadn't expected them too, it was Sol and Lysel's second birthday so his mother and Myriam were throwing the pair another party. Scorpius was naturally expected to attend his brother's birthday and he wanted Michael to be there anyway, he really wanted him to get to talk to Myriam.

"This may sound like a weird request," Scorpius said to Myriam as he pulled her aside thanks to strategically getting the door, "But erm… my friend Michael is here staying and he's a werewolf and he err… is kind of having a hard with it so could you please maybe talk to him? "

"Well I can try," Myriam agreed slowly, "I'm not sure what you want to me to say."

"Thank you."

He actually found it quite nice to see the rather dark manor decorated up in bright colors for the party and the normally quiet place having children's laughter filling the halls, Sol and Lysel did seem fond of each other. When he arrived, Sol squealed excitedly and pulled the werewolf into a vice-like hug before scampering off to play. Scorpius wondered if Sol would be affected if Lysel did die, he seemed to care for him but then they were only two. If he definitely thought Lysel was the leader of the two, Sol didn't seem to know how to open his presents before Lysel showed him and then he could tear them through faster than the weaker Lysel. Maybe this was a good thing considering how Sol had noticeably more presents to unwrap then Lysel, his were generally more expensive as well.

Not that the toddlers minded, they didn't even seem to notice what belonged to who as they played with whatever, even the boxes or wrapping paper itself. This seemed to bother his grandmother for some reason, she didn't seem to want Lysel playing with Sol's things. Scorpius didn't care though, it was their birthday and as long as they were happy then it didn't matter. He even managed to convince his mother to let them go outside to play in the snow for a while, Scorpius and Maurene showed them how to make snow angels and helped them build a snow man, a snow fort. And a snow leopard because… he had no idea why, apparently leopards were cool. They discovered snowball fighting by themselves, although it was more snow lumps or even just waves. They were laughing and happy, it didn't really matter how accurate it was. They got a chance to try out Sol's toy broomstick as well, Lysel was much better with it though and excited to fly.

Scorpius actually ended up having more fun he thought and playing big brother did take his mind off the war and everything, it actually made him rethink his stance on children. Maybe one day in the future – the distant future at that – it wouldn't be so bad, maybe even nice to see the Manor full of his and Molly's carefree, innocent children running around laughing instead. The toddlers were wiped by the end of it but it had been a good day, Scorpius fell asleep in a good mood for once. The next day he thought he shouldn't have got so carried away though and avoiding anything that could bring him down, he'd been too busy with the toddlers to talk to Leebin – well not about Michael's drinking anyway, it seemed weird to bring it up in front of the little ones that Leebin too had seemed keen to spend time with – and had no idea if Myriam had talked to Michael or not. When he went down the next day for breakfast, he was surprised to see his mother crying.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked her worriedly and his mother tried to wipe her eyes but more tears kept falling.

"The Leebins were attacked last night," his mother admitted after a minute, "Myriam's in critical condition, Maurene's severely injured, Lysel's wrist is broken and Flan is missing."


	8. Chapter 8: Building and Breaking

_**Parts (31-34)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 8  
**

Building and Breaking

* * *

**Part 1: **Torture

* * *

James Sirius Potter was loving life as a Soul Eater, he'd been reluctant at first but now he was really enjoying it. He lived in luxury, everything he needed was provided for him along with anything he wanted within reason, there were plenty of slaves to get things done. He was learning a lot, he'd improved greatly upon his dueling technique and spell library, started getting into the Dark Arts – which weren't Dark if used for good reasons – and torture. It sounded really bad James found it had become a guilty pleasure of his, now he couldn't bully scumbag Slytherins anymore that became his way of venting. It wasn't like they were really people anyway, just slaves who volunteered for the chance of seeing loved ones again before realizing what they signed up for.

It wasn't evil, he knew _he_ wasn't evil so it couldn't be wrong for him to enjoy it, to feel powerful and in control of something for once. They weren't people, they were just objects to experiment with and it was good to experiment for the sake of… researching… stuff. He found it really quite fascinating learning what hurt more and what elicited what reaction, he was also quite curious sometimes just to see what would happen if he did certain things. His anatomy knowledge had increased massively as well. It was also kind of exciting taking over the world, watching the cities fall one by one like they were little more than poorly constructed tower blocks that some toddlers had constructed.

The lands they conquered were better off anyway, sure scores of people died in the process but their society was much better with slaves to do things, James was loving life. The only downside was loneliness, his friends and family were still in England. Even Carver, his extremely handsome best friend who was also a Soul Eater was being left there for the time being. James missed him. He missed the others too, he couldn't wait until they took England so his other friends and family could see how great life was with the Soul Eaters. They'd thank him, he was sure and apologize for ever doubting him in the first place. They would cry in their guilt for trying to lock him up for doing a good thing, praise his name for showing them a better life and being the good, merciful son he was, James would consider forgiving them. He had Stephan though, Carver's eldest half-brother sometimes disturbed him but otherwise proved to be a good companion. Not as good as his brother though.

"Hey James," Stephan greeted him on his way back from a dueling training session, he was tall but thin – not muscular like his more attractive brother – with dark hair and coal-colored eyes, he was in his early twenties and smiled at him in greeting. All his smiles seemed varying degrees of sinister for some reason.

"Hey Stephan, what's up?" James wondered, he could use the company because with Christmas Eve dawning he was feeling kind of sad about not having anyone. Not unless he counted his personal house slave anyway.

"Y-"

"Stephan!" a girl's voice shrieked irritably and they both stopped to see another of Carver's half-siblings approaching, the violet-eyed fifteen year old Viola who had once been a friend of his sister's and a scumbag Slytherin. They were on the same side now but he still didn't like her, she'd nearly gotten his sister killed and didn't seem to care, "I-"

"No, Viola, how many times do I have to tell you?" Stephan cut her off, his expression turning to one of irritation while hers stayed set with rage.

"But you can track down Florian, I know you can! Your Mother was only the best tracker and I _know_ she taught you!" Viola insisted angrily and stamped her foot childishly, "He _murdered_ our Father! He has to die, him and his worthless brat!"

"Uncle Pyrrhus will get what he deserves in due time," Stephan brushed it off, "There's already people tracking him and just because my Mother was only the best tracker in the world, it doesn't mean she taught me. For now I have my duties here and so do you, be patient little sister."

"Bull crap! Stephan, you're good and you know it, you're just putting your own ambitions before our Father's justice."

"This may have escaped your notice but taking over the world is a big task and some of us have real important things to do, petty revenge can wait and Father would understand that," Stephan told her seriously before jabbing his finger back the way she'd came, "And even little tasks must be done so get back to work. Or sleep since it's late, whichever you're supposed to do."

"I hate you!" Viola screamed at him before storming off.

"_Teenagers_," Stephan sighed with a shake of his head as he started walking again, James at his side before the older man turned back to him, "So anyway, remember how you want revenge on Leebin for abandoning you?"

"Yes," James said slowly, surprised and somewhat honored Stephan remembered that.

"And you want to start doing real tasks instead of just training?"

"Yes."

"Well then I have the perfect task for you," Stephan told him and clapped him on the back, changing their direction to lead them on a different path which led to the torture dungeons, "It seems Leebin is the Secret-Keeper for Calderon's location and his Occlumency is impeccable so we're going to have to torture the location out of him. I'd like to put you in charge of that task."

"Really?" James wondered hopefully, excited on both counts and Stephan smiled again, continuing to walk with his arm around him to lead him… James would be lying if he said he didn't like that.

"Really," Stephan confirmed, sounding sincere, "I think you're ready. Do you?"

"Absolutely!"

"Good. It will have to be intense, based on his skill level of Occlumency he might entirely be capable of separating his mind from his physical pain to some degree so he might be able to resist easier. You'll need to arrange shifts so yourself and other torturers can get some rest if he doesn't break quickly, do _not_ let him sleep, he cannot be allowed a reprieve and the more uncomfortable the better. Do you understand?" Stephan questioned seriously and James nodded in understanding, "If it lasts two weeks, arrange for him to given a potion to save off sleep and every fortnight after. Only allow him water every three days to keep him weak and experiencing further discomfort, food only every three months for the same reason. If it takes that long of course, maybe you'll get lucky and he'll break within the hour. There'll always be a Healer to hand in case he gets hurt too bad or for some reason you have to break these rules."

"I won't let you down, Stephan," James assured him and Stephan smiled, instead of lighting up his eyes, it seemed to darken them dangerously.

"Then do the Soul Eaters proud and take as much personal satisfaction as you want," Stephan told him as he unlocked one of the furthest in doors, "He's been Cruciated so stay from that for a bit, don't want to drive him insane. I tried to get in through Legilimens but that's all so far, he's a virgin sack of flesh to be torn apart. He's all yours. Oh and if he asks, we killed his family."

Inside it was fairly dark, there were torches lit that illuminated the blood stains on the walls and floor from past occupants but the darkness still seemed to consume them just as the cold consumed their heat. You needed to go down a flight of stairs to reach the ground but you could still see clearly in the room though, the brickwork was all exposed and all the same shade of gray so dark it was practically black in the gloom. There were two people already there, the white-robed Healer standing by and a figure lying in the middle of the floor. Stephan closed the door behind him, leaving James to his task. He walked slowly down the stairs without taking his eyes from Leebin, each slapping step he took echoing around the room.

It _was _Leebin. He had the same reddish-brown hair that seemed to naturally spoke and looked so soft, the same oval glasses on his handsome face. He'd been stripped shirtless and was barefooted, he was only wearing red plaid pajama bottoms, he'd probably either been in bed or going to bed when he'd been taken. James was somewhat disappointed Leebin wasn't muscular, he wasn't fat though but rather just thin and bony with a treasure trail running down from his navel. He had scars too, some across his neck that looked like they'd come from a werewolf and even deeper ones across his stomach that also looked like they'd come from a werewolf. Had he been attacked by a werewolf at some point? James didn't know or care really. He had a shiny wedding band on one hand, thick shackles binding his wrists to the ground but nothing else noteworthy about him aside from the fact he was sleeping.

James watched him curiously, it was all very rhythmic and calm. His chest rising and falling, his breathe causing strands of hair to sway slightly backwards and forwards. James could feel his pent up rage, Leebin had promised to help him then abandoned him like the traitorous bastard he was and god was punishing him and rewarding James here it seemed. But he also felt oddly aroused, Leebin had always seemed attractive to him with his fairly youthful handsome face, how he listened to everything James said, his voice, his soft-looking hair that James had always wanted to… Who was stopping him? James crouched by Leebin and ran his hands through his hair, grinning to himself. It _was_ soft. He caressed Leebin's face gently – he'd never gotten to do that to anyone either – before moving his hand to Leebin's chest, it was still firm. Leebin started to stir then though, James jumped up in panic and kicked him as hard as he could.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Hogan!" Leebin yelled stupidly as he snapped away, turning onto his side and cringing at the pain.

He blinked a few times sleepily and James kicked him again, this time in the fleshy part of his stomach which had him yelp in pain again and try curling his body instinctively and protectively into a ball. James kicked him in the groin, Leebin tried to shift his position to protect that instead leaving his stomach unprotected so James could kick him again. He felt his rage fueling him again, how dare he abandon him!? He kicked Leebin again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And… what was he supposed to be doing again?

"Do you remember me?!" James spat at him angrily, resisting the urge to kick him again so Leebin could actually glance at him.

"J-James?" Leebin wondered, sounding somewhat surprised and pained.

"Oh so you _do _remember me?!" James sneered and kicked him again, punctuating each of his next words with another kick with the final being forceful enough to send him back onto his back, "After. All. You. Did. Abandon. Me. When. You. Said. You. Would. Help!"

"I was fired," Leebin lied breathlessly, probably winded from the kicks and his eyes fluttered closed against the pain, "F-From Hogwarts. All the counsellors were because of… because of Chastity."

"It was your fault! You said you'd help me and you didn't! You left me!"

"I-I'm sorry."

"Damn straight you should be sorry!" James screamed at him and Leebin flicked his eyes back open to glance at him.

"Why are you doing this, James?"

"Because you know-"

"No, why are you doing _this_. Joining the Shadows," Leebin interjected and James was so taken aback by the question he didn't kick him again for interrupting like he should've, "Y-You always stood against them before, you hated anyone suspected of being one."

"Well that was before I realized they were good," James told him seriously, "They saved my life when my _own_ Dad wanted to send me to jail, my own Dad Leebin, he just wanted to leave me to rot. But the Soul Eaters? They're giving me a great life, they're making the world better."

"Better for who, James? Is it really best f-for the world or just what you feel is best for you?"

"I think-" James started to say before realizing something and angrily kicking his side again instead, Leebin whimpered in pain, "This isn't a stupid counselling session! This is a torture session, your whole life is a torture session now. My torture session, I own you. And if you don't tell me what I want to know then I'm going to do a hell of a lot worse than kick you, I've been taught how and I'm good at it."

"What _do_ you want to know? Don't they teach you to ask that?" Leebin queried and James kicked him as hard as he could, his cheeks burning at the obvious oversight, "O-Okay, that one I deserved."

"Tell me where Calderon is," James demanded and withdrew his wand threateningly, Leebin merely shook his head. He raised his wand and Leebin cringed.

"It's not too late, you know?" Leebin said quietly and James met his eyes thoughtfully despite himself, they were kind of a nice shade of cyan. Not as nice as Carver's eyes though, "You don't have to do this, James, you don't have to choose this life. Your Father loves you, your whole family was worried when you went missing- Harry was a wreck. Tell him what you did, he'll forgive you and take you back, whatever you know to tell him about the Shadows will keep you out of prison. He won't even care, he just wants you home safe and sound again."

James stomped angrily down on Leebin's glasses, Leebin screamed as they shattered and shards went into his eyes. He kicked at his eyes repeatedly to make sure that was the case before moving his foot away, Leebin's eyelid seemed stuck half open with pieces of stabbing through, into and in the eye behind it while more dug into the area around his eyes. There was blood, he looked like he was crying crimson tears. Leebin rolled onto his side to be closer to the ground and the broken frames fell off him as he started desperately trying to pull the shards out of his eyes, James hadn't actually done that before. It was interesting, it looked painful. He deserved it with his stupid cowardly lies.

"I told you, Leebin, this isn't a counselling session. You pathetic coward," James spat while Leebin just shakily kept trying to help his eyes which were now an indistinguishable bloody mess to him, "It_ is_ too late. The Soul Eaters are wonderful and we're going to win, Dad will see that. They should be coming to _me_ for forgiveness and to ask _me_ to keep them out of prison, not the other way around. So tell me what I need to know or get ready to scream because I'm going to cut off one of your fingers."

Leebin shook his head once more and James crouched to grab one of his bloody hands, using a powerful severing charm to cut off his literal ring finger. He screamed and screamed even louder when James used another spell to cauterize the wound, James smiled to himself. It felt good to be the one with the power. He took the ring of Leebin's severed finger before lighting the limb on fire, taking away personal items was good in torture. Leebin was shaking as he went back to trying to get the glass out of his eyes with his one unhurt hand, James wasn't sure whether from the cold or fear or if he was actually crying now.

"Took your ring, you don't need it anymore because we killed your family," James taunted him as the stench of burning flesh clawed at his nostrils, as bad as it was it would be worse for Leebin though, "And can you smell that? That's the smell of _your own_ flesh burning. Not nice is it? I told you, I'm going to do worse than just kick you. So, coward, are you going to tell me where Calderon is?"

Leebin choked on a sob as he shook his head again.

"Looks like we're doing this the fun way then," James smirked and raised his wand, Leebin screamed as he cast his next spell. James liked the sound of his screams, served him right for being a traitor.

* * *

"_Crucio!"_ Atticus Ashain cried as he cast the spell on his prisoner.

The guy he had tied to a chair in his own home but Atticus had cast silencing charms to ensure no one overheard. He'd also searched the entire house from top to bottom and for hidden areas but no sign of his son so far, he would find Antonius dammit. Normally he would really be quite repulsed by use of the Torture Curse but he found he didn't care, it had been three days since Antonius had gone missing and he was beside himself. Three _whole_ days, he hadn't slept, he hadn't eaten, he just _had_ to find Antonius. He didn't care what it took, he needed his son to be safe. He let the spell down and the man continued sobbing.

"TELL ME WHERE MY SON IS!" Atticus screamed at him and the man flinched fearfully. He _should _be fearful, Atticus didn't think he'd been so angry in his entire life.

"I don't know!" the man insisted desperately, Atticus flicked his wand at the man's knee and he screamed at was shattered, "PLEASE! I don't know!"

"Do you know what the three most common causes for child kidnapping are?" Atticus questioned, making an effort to yell, "One: Parental dispute but it's not that because Skye wouldn't kill her brother for that. Two: ransom but it's not that because there are no demands. Three: perverts like you so you see why I'm here, you're a registered muggle sex offender and you live on the very same street so tell me, WHERE IS MY SON!?"

"I didn't take your son!" the man insisted and Atticus flicked his wand at the other knee, the man screamed once more, "I swear I didn't! I don't even like boys."

"STOP LYING!"

"I'm not lying! I swear!" the man sobbed, "I didn't even know Skye Winters had children."

"Well she does and they're _my_ children and I'm going to get my son back!" Atticus snapped at him and raised his wand again threateningly, "If you didn't take him then you're going to tell me who did or I'll kill you and go to the next on my list."

"It wasn't anyone on the list!" the man shrieked and cowered away from the wand, his eyes bulging. Atticus slashed him across the face with the Acutus Curse, he screamed again.

"I knew you were involved!"

"I wasn't, I just saw it out the window!" the man cried and Atticus lowered his wand slightly, he was listening, "Just as was getting back from work, I saw this kid running out of Skye's house. He looked kind of like you but ten and not insane but then… then… there was this popping sound and this guy appeared in front of him, he grabbed and they just… vanished."

"That's impossible!" Atticus yelled angrily and the man flinched again, if it was wizards then it changed everything, "Skye said it was muggles! They slit her brother's throat-"

"Well she must've lied!" the man whined, "I'm just telling you what _I _saw, I thought I was just seeing things until you walked in here with that… that stick. I wouldn't lie to you, I don't want to die, please."

"You've been useful," Atticus admitted and the man hung his head in relief, "_Obliviate_."

Atticus disapparated before the man could raise his head, reappearing in his former home. Skye was doing the dishes, she jumped fearfully and spun in terror before relaxing slightly when she saw it was just him. The words died in his throat as he saw his former wife, would she really have lied to him about something like this? Maybe. Maybe was enough to keep his rage burning. If he was wrong then… well who _cared?!_ Nothing mattered apart from saving Antonius, he had to save his son. Their son.

"I told you not to do that," Skye complained at him before scowling, "You okay? You look a wreck."

"Maybe because my son is missing!" Atticus yelled at her before he could stop himself, "Tell me what happened."

"I told you what happened."

"Well tell me again and this time, _don't_ leave out the part where a wizard grabbed him and disapparated with him when he tried to flee," Atticus snapped and Skye averted her eyes guiltily, he felt his jaw dropping in shock, "You did lie?! What the hell, Skye?! What the fu- Tell me what really happened!"

"Atty-"

"TELL ME!" Atticus screamed at her and raised his wand threateningly, Skye's eyes filled with tears.

"Or what? You're going hurt me," Skye wondered tearfully as she wrapped her arms protectively around himself, he did feel a sliver of sympathy. What was he doing? He shouldn't be raising his wand to his wife. Ex-wife.

"I'm going to get _our_ son back," Atticus said instead, catching her eyes, "Tell me what happened and tell me now, if you care about Antonius at _all_ then you'll tell me. Who took him?!"

"Wizards," Skye admitted, spitting out the word like it was something vile, "They came to me and told me that I needed to ask to see the kids over Christmas because it's really hard to get to him when he's in Hogwarts with you-"

"YOU HELPED THEM?!" Atticus screamed at her, rage filling him once more and Skye flinched tearfully, "How could you?!"

"You don't understand, they tortured me-"

"Oh so that makes it okay to betray your ten year old child?!"

"I refused!" Skye yelled defensively, tears flying from her eyes, "I refused when they tortured me! I _refused_, okay?! So they killed my boyfriend, they _killed_ Carl. Then they took Jasper and told me they'd kill him too if I didn't help them, I didn't have a choice. But then Jasper didn't want to let them take him and Tony fought back-"

"Antonius!" Atticus interrupted her angrily, his voice cracked as he thought of his son feeling hurt and betrayed as he tried to fight because he was a fighter. He had a good son, "If you knew anything about him at all then you'd know he prefers to be called Antonius, its his name and that's what he wants, Tony's gone, that's who he wants to be and he deserves to get what he wants after the crap he's been through!"

"Crap he's only been through because of magic," Skye stated bitterly, "I wish I'd never even met you."

"Well don't worry, Skye, I'm going to go and I'm going to save our son from the Shadows," Atticus assured her darkly and she glanced at him, "But so long as I live, you'll never see him or Cassia again."

Skye opened her mouth to speak but he turned on his heel and disapparated, he couldn't bear to look at her anymore. He had to save his son. Whatever it took. He couldn't waste his time, every second was another second Antonius was being held against his will. If wizards were responsible then it was most likely the Shadows... He had an idea.

* * *

**Part 2: **Brothers In Arms

* * *

Celestine sat in wait, idly cruciating his son to pass the time. He was waiting for Ron Weasley to find out Leebin had been taken, he'd know it wasn't himself thus likely Cel himself and knowing the idiot, Ron would rush over here to confront him in person. He knew going after Leebin would bring them under suspicion but it had to be done, besides he had a plan and it would get rid of Ron in the process. He caught sight of a shadow of movement, registering it was Brutus Ashain just before the older man grabbed his wrist and jerked it painfully back. Celestine screamed in pain and heard a sickening snap, his wand dropped from his fingers releasing Vale from the spell. The little freak curled itself into the fetal position, shaking and sobbing from the residual effect of the curse.

"What the hell, Brutus?!" Celestine snapped at him as he pulled away angrily as he stood, nursing his almost-certainly broken wrist. He _hated_ Brutus. What did she _see_ in him? He'd done everything she'd ever wanted yet the deformed freak who questioned and argued with her plans was the one she loved. What was he doing wrong?

"Stop torturing your son," Brutus shot back immediately and his grotesquely deformed – not as bad as Vale's monstrous appearance though – face spared a sympathetic glance for the toddler before his dark chestnut eyes darted back to him, "I guess you're even for the Leebin boy's broken wrist."

"Break Selwyn's wrist, he's the one who did it. Besides, it was an accident, apparently the kids just got caught in the crossfire."

"Well Selwyn's not also torturing his son."

"Selwyn doesn't _have_ a son," Celestine pointed out testily, "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be destroying Lebanon with our Master?"

"The Master was worried about your cover being blown," Brutus admitted, glancing distractedly at Vale again as if he wanted to pick him up and comfort him, "What's this plan you mentioned to avoid this?"

"I'll tell you later, okay? It's about to go down and I don't want you screwing it up, Ron could be here at any minute."

"Fine," Brutus grumbled, "But leave the kid alone, I'll be watching."

"Fine," Celestine agreed irritably and the deformed lump stepped back into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

He sighed, he missed Rabastan. He also thought he probably should've forced Brutus to heal his broken wrist, it was actually quite painful. On the other hand, he had been taught to duel with his left as well as his right and it might look good for his credibility to have his preferred hand broken. He picked up his wand with his left hand anyway and Vale froze, his freakish eyes bulging as he stared at it. Stupid Brutus, couldn't he see Vale was a monster not a child? Why was he the only one who could see him for what he was?

He heard a pop behind him, surprise shooting into his mind at his anti-apparation charms had been broken. He reacted before the thought had fully formed, instinct ruling him as he spun and cast a nonverbal Shield Charm. It was a good thing too because a spell had already been fired, his shield shattered as it took the brunt of the curse but Celestine was thrown back anyway. He crashed into a book shelf, sending tombs flying before he scrambled back up to his feet. The caster was Ron Weasley, his face red with rage like his hair had once been.

"What the bloody hell, Cel?! What do you think you're playing at?!" Ron yelled at him furiously, "Harry trusted you, we _all_ trusted you! How could you go dark side?! How could you betray everything we've ever fought for?!"

"I was never on your side, Ron," Celestine admitted as he got to his feet, there was no reason to lie to him now, "And don't pretend like you were ever on mine, you've always had it out for me."

"What are you on about?! We treated you like family! We always-" Ron scoffed, faking a look of bewilderment before his caught sight of Vale whose tearstained face looked absolutely terrified, "Really? Your _own_ son? He's two freaking years old! What did you do to him, Cel?!"

"Nothing," Celestine smirked as he idly started making a wand movement while keeping it as his side, "I never left a mark on the inhuman freak, even the Cruciatus Curse never leaves a mark."

"You son of a bitch."

Celestine jerked his wand upwards and pulled, the shelving unit on the wall flew out and hit Ron in the head. It smashed upon contact and sent the older man down, Vale screamed and crawled like a worthless coward under a table. Celestine kicked Ron's wand away from him and hit him with a stunner while he was groaning in pain, trying to get up. He crouched and ripped open Ron's sleeve so he could start drawing the Shadow Mark onto his flesh, branding him with the writhing skeletal snake symbol of the Soul Eaters and doing a minor healing charm to make it look older, another to disperse the smell of his burnt flesh. Ron should be grateful really, most people didn't get to be unconscious when they received the Mark.

He then revived Ron, the older man stirred and started to sit up. Celestine opened his mouth to speak but was taken completely by surprise as Ron smashed his fist into his face, he was knocked onto his back with his wand flying and Ron lunged on him with another punch already hitting his nose painfully. Celestine instinctively but stupidly also went to punch Ron with his right hand, connected to the broken wrist. He screamed at the waves of pain it sent cascading through his arm but nonetheless, the blow had been strong enough to disrupt Ron's position. Celestine struck him again – this time with his unhurt left hand – to knock the older and weaker man off him, he scrambled for his wand while Ron spat out a mouthful of blood and what looked like a tooth.

Celestine stood breathing heavily while Ron remained on his knees doing the same but he kept his wand aimed on him anyway, he could taste blood himself as it was dribbling down from his nose while his right eye throbbed from the first blow along with his broken wrist. Ron cringed and touched at the Shadow Mark as if he'd only just noticed it, his blue eyes widening in horror at the symbol before turning to him darkly.

"You really think this is going to convince Harry that I'm a Shadow?" Ron questioned of him, sounding almost amused, "You really think your little mark is going to turn my best mate against me after all we've been through over the years? You're an idiot."

"Harry's not going to think you're the Shadow because of that, he's going to think you're the Shadow because that is what you're going to tell him," Celestine told him and Ron have a snort of derision.

"And why the bloody hell would I do-"

"Didn't you ever wonder what happened to James?" Celestine interrupted and Ron's expression became puzzled, "Harry's wrong, Varanian doesn't have him. We do. And Lucy too. It's so easy to take a squib from a muggle school and make her write a letter claiming to be staying with a friend this Christmas. We have your niece and your nephew, for now they're alive but they're dead if you don't play ball."

"I don't believe you," Ron said but his tone was much quieter.

Celestine smiled knowingly as he levitated the photograph from his pocket and over to him since he couldn't use his free hand easily due to the break. Ron picked it up, his eyes widening again as he saw it. It was a picture of James and Lucy, tied up with a copy of today's _Daily Prophet_ to prove they were alive as of right now. Of course it was a lie, they weren't prisoners but they would reluctantly pretend to be if ordered to.

"When Harry comes, I'm going to tell him you're the Shadow and point out the Shadow Mark. He probably won't believe it so you're just going to confess, you're going to tell him you're a Soul Eater. A Shadow will then appear, acting like he obeys you and will take you away, make it look like you're escaping with him," Celestine explained to him and Ron looked at him with a mixture of loathing and defeat, "If you don't comply, tell Harry the truth or any attempt to send him a sign then James and Lucy will be killed. And don't think if I'm arrested it won't happen, if I'm arrested then they'll know to do it even more. You either take the fall or I take you niece and nephew's lives, don't you think the Weasley family has had enough deaths lately?"

"I hate you, Cel, you're a right git," Ron stated seriously as he stood, Celestine magically burning the evidence into nothingness.

"But you'll do it."

"If I do it, I want you to let them go."

"Eh, Lucy can be let go back to her muggles but we can keep James with you for leverage," Celestine lied easily and Ron sighed, "Sound fair?"

Ron opened his mouth to reply but the answer was lost at another popping sound as the famous Harry Potter himself appeared, looking rather distressed as well. His jet black hair seemed messier than usual even by his standards, his emerald eyes and glanced between then both with his wand darting with it. He knew he was more inclined to favor his protégé over his oldest friend as the culprit, hence why he had ultimately come to his house in the first place but Ron was the one with the Shadow Mark on his arm giving him doubt.

"It's Ron, Harry," Celestine burst out immediately, looking upset, "He tried to Imperise me into confessing and h-he has the mark on his arm."

"You're both under arrest under we figure this out, Alaric's orders," Harry said very quietly and shot them both with the spell to check if they were under the Imperius Curse, of course they weren't.

"It's Cel, Harry," Ron countered, much to Celestine's surprise but he didn't let that show on his face. What was Ron playing at? Had his plan failed? But Ron had agreed… Unless he thought it was too unbelievable to immediately give in? Ron held out his arms as if innocent, "C'mon mate, this is me. Who are you going to believe? He put this symbol on me to frame me."

"Then why are you at his house?"

"Confront the git of course, go on Harry, arrest him."

Harry slowly turned his wand on Celestine, he didn't fight the Disarming Charm launched at him because he thought that would make him look guiltier. Ron picked up his own wand and swallowed before hitting Harry with the Knockback Jinx when he wasn't looking, the Head Auror was thrown backwards off his feet and his wand torn from his hand in his surprise. Ron kept his wand aimed at Harry, his expression blank. Harry could only gape at him, his mind seemingly struggling to process what was happening.

"You're my brother, Ron, I love you," Harry choked out tearfully, "Why?"

"Because we can't win, Harry," Ron told him, his blank expression and wand unwavering, "Not this time. I want to win, I don't want to see any more of my family to die."

"This is the wrong way-"

"This is the _only_ way," Ron interrupted and insisted with a note of finality so serious that for a second Celestine almost believed him, tears rolled down behind Harry's glasses.

"Master! Come on!" a Soul Eater Celestine didn't know the name of urged of Ron as he stepped out of the shadows, having been transported by Specter to bypass the broken anti-apparation charms. He slashed his wand absentmindedly at Celestine as he noticed him standing as a potential threat, Celestine cried out once more in pain as the Acutus Curse sliced through his chest and knocked him down. Somehow, he thought Brutus was behind that.

"About time," Ron snapped at the newcomer and grabbed the man's arm, the Specters transporting them both far away.

"No," Harry breathed as he got to his feet, he kicked angrily at a fragment of the shelf Celestine had knocked Ron out with earlier which caused Vale to yelp in fear since it landed near him, "NO!"

"I'm sorry, Harry," Celestine whispered as he sat up painfully as his chest bled freely, thinking of the bullying he'd endured as a child to make his sorrow more genuine. Harry had noticed Vale though and grabbed the boy out from under the table, more roughly then he'd have expected.

"Vale, I need you to tell me what happened and I need you to tell me the truth right now," Harry snapped at the toddler, Celestine felt a pang of fear because he hadn't accounted for Vale. Vale whimpered fearfully, apparently not wanting to get involved so Harry shook him, "Vale! Tell me! This is very important!"

"Uncle Ron comed and attack Daddy," Vale answered in a terrified sob, "It was scary."

"How did the mark get on Uncle Ron's arm?!"

"I don't know, Uncle Harry! The sleeve was ripped and thered it was," Vale lied through his tears and Harry let him go, looking shattered before seemingly realizing he'd been too rough with Vale and pulled the monster into a gentle hug. Celestine resisted the urge to smile to himself while Vale's terrified frightened eyes caught his over Harry's shoulder, he was a smart little freak of nature it seemed.

* * *

James paced irritably in the dungeon, waiting for Leebin's more severe injuries to be healed so he could get back to torturing him. Or rather start again since he'd just woke up, he'd left another torturer – who'd got a little burn happy – with Leebin to work on him while he got some rest. And had had a chance to work out a rough schedule for the torture as well like Stephan had wanted to ensure there was no break. He'd had a rather rude awakening, having been ordered to pretend to be a prisoner to blackmail one of his Uncles for something, Lucy too. He hadn't really gotten to talk to her, he didn't know what her capacity as a Soul Eater was after all, whether she was forced like Heather or willing like him. He was surprised though when a Soul Eater stepped out of the shadows with his Uncle Ron.

"Uncle Ron?" James wondered in surprise, his uncle's surprised diminished by the urge to vomit engraved on his face. Clearly, he was not used to Specter transportation.

"James, you're okay," Uncle Ron said, sounding relieved. He was looking terrible, he hadn't been in good health since his injury a few years back. He'd lost weight and muscle, gained grays and wrinkles.

"Sorry, thought this room was unoccupied. Must've got them mixed up," the Soul Eater apologized while quickly snatching Ron's wand from his hand while he was distracted by his queasiness and nephew.

"What are you doing with my uncle?" James questioned of him before noticing the Healer treating Leebin out of the corner of his eye, he was giving him _water_, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing, Siberius?!"

"Tending to the prisoner like you ordered, Master," Siberius the Healer pointed out testily in his slightly accented voice as James stalked over to him, he was a thin Caucasian man of average height with a head of shoulder-length white hair despite not being too old. James thought he was quite handsome though, except for his attitude.

"He's only allowed water every three days."

"Well then this can be the first."

"James, what- what have you done?" Uncle Ron stammered out in confusion, looking shocked and hurt, "You're one of them?"

"Yes," James admitted proudly as he turned to his uncle and folded his arms, a smile forming on his face, "I'm a Soul Eater, I have assignments and everything."

"Oh James."

"It's good! We're making the world a better place!" James protested and gestured to the healer, "Right, Siberius?"

"Yes, my life is so much better now my wife was mutilated and dragged off to be a slave, my children taken away to be taught and instead of saving lives I just prolong victims pain," Siberius answered in a bitter, sardonic tone what earned him a scowl.

"Well maybe they wouldn't have to be taken away if not for your terrible attitude, that'll poison their minds against us."

"Good."

"I'm happy with being a Soul Eater," the Soul Eater offered helpfully while Uncle Ron hung his head sadly.

"If my uncle's not here to join us then why is he here?" James asked of the Soul Eater.

"To be killed, he's taking the fall for Master Cel."

"I knew it," Leebin burst out, seemingly without thinking.

James kicked him in the jaw for speaking out of turn, thankfully for an excuse to hide his panic and delight at the thought of Cel being a Soul Eater too. He couldn't just let his uncle die though, surely with some time his uncle could see the light. Siberius helped Leebin up and went to go finish giving him the water, James surreptitiously tapped the canteen with his wand as an idea occurred to him.

"Change of plan, lock my uncle in a cell rather than killing him," James spoke up and smiled to himself as Siberius poured the now scalding liquid down Leebin's throat, Leebin screamed in agony and Siberius moved the canteen back in horror. James was impressed, there was real steam. Not to mention the fact this would take away any possible refreshment for Leebin, he neither deserved it nor was it useful for breaking him, "I heated the water up a bit, Siberius, there's nothing to say we can't give him _scalding_ water. Only heal him enough so he can still talk when you're done. Well, go on Siberius, what are you waiting for? It's _your _job to give the prisoner water, this is what you wanted."

Siberius gave James a look of utter loathing before turning back to Leebin very unhappily, James watched eagerly with a smile. Leebin's eyes bulged in fear and he tried to pull away but his broken hands were still shackled to the floor, Siberius' face was guilt-ridden as he poured the burning liquid down Leebin's mouth with his eyes closed and a muttered apology. He tried to pretend to be done but James heard the slosh of water.

"_All_ of it, Siberius," James insisted and Siberius poured the rest down Leebin's throat despite the screams of pain, his scarred cyan eyes filled with pain, "You know, you have pretty eyes without your glasses. I'm glad I broke them."

"What is wrong with you?" Uncle Ron asked of him, sounding heart-broken and looking sickened while Leebin lay down on his side, clutching his stomach with his eyes squeezed shut as his insides were presumably burned as well.

"I'm saving your life, you should be grateful," James snapped at him, angry at the lack of gratitude while Leebin wretched onto the ground, "Leebin deserves what he gets, he doesn't have to be tortured if he just tells us what we want to know. Plus he should never have abandoned me."

"I don't know if you have the authority to spare his life," the Soul Eater commented awkwardly and James threw him a murderous look instead as he folded his arms.

"Does Stephan Hunter?" James asked, knowing Stephan would back him up and the Soul Eater's face drained of color while Siberius started healing Leebin again.

"Wh-Why y-yes, he's the most likely candidate to replace Rabastan as one of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants."

"Good because he happens to be a close person friend of mine and if you go get him then I'm sure he'll agree with me that its best to keep my uncle alive, he's more valuable alive and could have some use down the road."

"I erm… I'll find the prisoner a cell and ask him," the Soul Eater agreed and conjured chains for his uncle quickly, leading him away.

Uncle Ron didn't even say thank you, he just looked disappointed and saddened. And James was the bad one? He'd saved his uncle's life, even after Uncle Ron had betrayed him along with the rest. He was a great person, he was the best. He was right and they were wrong. He shook his head as Siberius finally seemed to have finished with Leebin who was still curled up in pain, James couldn't wait to break him.

"Can you speak?" James questioned of him with a kick of encouragement, "Say something."

"Something," Leebin croaked weakly.

"Didn't I tell you that I'd do worse than just kick you?" James questioned of Leebin with a smirk as he raised his wand, "Anything you feel like telling me about Calderon's location before we begin? No? Oh well…"

* * *

Atticus Ashain paced anxiously, glancing at the clock every five seconds to see if time had miraculously sped up. It hadn't. It was ironic that it was Christmas morning but unlike in his childhood, his attention to time had nothing to do with waiting until he would be able to wake his father to open his presents. He was just waiting to go to a meeting, a meeting where there was only a fifty-fifty chance the other person would actually show up. Well, fifty was better than the zero chance if he didn't even try. And dammit he was going to try, he would try for Antonius, he had to save his child.

"Daddy?" Cassia questioned as he wandered out, still in her pink nightdress. She didn't look enthusiastic or happy for Christmas, she was worried for her brother, "Are you going to go to bed? It's late."

"Technically it's early," Atticus countered but stopped to pick up his little girl and hold her tightly, assuring himself she was still there at least. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tearfully, "I love you so much, sweetie, you're the best daughter in the whole wide world."

"I know, Daddy, you keep telling me. I love you too, you're the best," Cassia told him and he felt a painful pang in his heart, he wasn't the best. He was the worst, he couldn't even protect his children.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed," Atticus offered and carried her back into her room, tucking her back into her bed where the dog still slept and the vulture was perched on its stand, "Try get some sleep, Cassia."

"I'll try," Cassia said quietly, "You should try too, Daddy."

"I'll try," Atticus lied as he left to go back to his pacing, only this time moving into his classroom to ensure it wouldn't disturb her.

How was he supposed to sleep when his son was missing? Or eat? Or do anything other than focus on getting his child back? Finally the clock turned over to a reasonable time to leave and he left, magically sealing both his office and classroom door, putting on some protective enchantments to – hopefully – ensure Cassia would be safe while he was gone. He headed out, nervously, hoping against hope.

"Where do you think you're going, Ashain?" a familiar but unwelcome voice commented on his way out of the gates, stepping out in front of them.

"Wherever the hell I want to go, Syn, it's a free country," Atticus spat at her angrily, she of all people would have to be the Auror in charge here.

"That's Lead Auror Cistro to you," Syn told him testily, staring daggers at him that he returned.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore and I don't give a damn what your title is, get the hell out of my way or find a reason to stop me."

"I have a reason," Syn sneered, "I _know_ you helped your brother escape arrest as a Death Eater, I _know _you helped him fake his death, I _know_ you're in league with him still."

"And I _know_ you're wrong and I _know_ if you had any proof of your ludicrous claim then I'd be in New Azkaban already so get out of my way!" Atticus snapped and Syn sulkily stepped aside, he stalked past her.

She wasn't entirely wrong about everything but he couldn't admit that or he would be in trouble, nor could he bring himself to care at that particular moment. He disapparated the second he reached Hogsmeade, finding him under the gray, murky morning sky and standing outside the gates he hadn't seen since his father had disowned him for 'killing' Brutus. The gates still stood but the home of his childhood was gone, the home of generations of Ashain children was gone. Still, he strode into the ruins. Not that there was much left to call ruins, some snow-covered piles of rubble and a massive crater. Curiously, the blanket of snow didn't cover the crater revealing the scorched earth. He heard familiar cawing and glanced up, seeing the flock of vultures that had once resided there flying overheard.

"Weird, isn't it?" a gruff voice commented as snowflakes started to fall, dying the second they touched the ground, "Who ever thought the Ashain Mansion would fall?"

"Not me," Atticus admitted as he turned to face his brother. Brutus was standing a few feet away from him watching him with the same dark chestnut eyes he watched him with, the same extremely dark auburn wavering in the gentle breeze. They were the same average height but Brutus was very muscular and of course, his features deformed, "You're early."

"So are you. And you look a wreck."

"I wasn't sure you'd come."

"I wasn't sure either, this could be trap after-" Brutus started to admit but Atticus withdrew his wand and flung it wildly, leaving himself unarmed.

"This isn't a goddamned trap, Brutus, I want my son back," Atticus snapped, cutting the chase immediately and Brutus' eyes widened in surprise, "Don't play dumb with me, I know he was taken by wizards and I know who those wizards were most likely to be. Give me my son back, Brutus. I don't care about any of this other crap, I want my child."

"Atty-"

"He's ten freaking years old! Haven't you people done enough to him!?" Atticus interjected angrily, "Give me my son back!"

"I don't have your son."

"Don't lie to me! I-"

"I'm not lying!" Brutus interrupting, holding out his hands as if innocent, "We _didn't_ take him."

"If you didn't take him then who did?" Atticus demanded as he folded his arms and Brutus sighed, "Tell me, dammit! It's my son!"

"Pyrrhus Florian," Brutus admitted reluctantly while Atticus was taken completely by surprise, that was not a name he'd been expecting.

"Pyrrhus Florian? What the hell would he want with Antonius?"

"I have no idea," Brutus sighed with a shake of his head, "We have trackers hunting him but he's difficult to trace, the most recent location they tracked him too was your ex-wife and considering your son just _happened_ to go missing then… It was probably him."

"Well what does he want?" Atticus wondered in confusion, he had no idea what the defector and former professor wanted.

"We don't know," Brutus insisted but looked worried.

"Doesn't your all-knowing, all-powerful Shadow Master know what her ex-underlings are after?"

"No she doesn- Wait, did you see she?" Brutus changed his sentence mid-way through, looking him in shock.

"So it is a she?" Atticus questioned triumphantly and Brutus sighed, averting his eyes as he nodded, "She's your lover isn't she?"

"H-How did- Wha-" Brutus stammered incoherently as his eyes darted back to him with an expression of utter shock.

"I've been wondering to myself for a while why you're still dedicated to this train wreck, clearly this is interfering with your morals now. At first I figured you were staying out of loyalty to your friend but this has gone way beyond that, it has to be a stronger bond and Calderon did mention once having a sister. He quickly retracted but…" Atticus trailed off and shrugged, "I figured he wasn't lying now, he's protecting his sister and you're protecting the woman you love."

"Yes," Brutus admitted in the quietest of voices, "Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Do you have children with her?"

"Twin sons, Lazarus and Omega. They're a year and a half."

"No," Atticus sighed heavily and Brutus looked relieved, "But not for her, for my nephews because I give a damn about my family."

"I give a damn too, okay?" Brutus protested defensively, "I really don't know what Florian wants. It worries me, I really am trying to get him. When he left he took his three year old son, Oathan, I want the kid back safe and sound. He has a half-brother who misses him."

"Have a soft spot for half-brothers?" Atticus wondered, thinking of themselves.

"We think he's behind the attacks on Scorpius and the Scamanders, that he's trying to kill the scarred wrists. We also think he's in league with Jack Thorne, this muggle who merged his soul with One, world's most powerful Specter and now they're… Not a good thing. And now he took Antonius," Brutus recounted for him, "If you see a connection that I'm missing then feel free to point it out."

"No clue," Atticus admitted with a shake of his head but he did think of something else, "But you think if we can figure out what he wants then we may be able to figure out where he's going, we can get the kids back."

"We should help each other," Brutus agreed and stepped forward and offered his hand, "We should work together to stop Florian and save the kids."

"We should," Atticus said slowly and started to reach forward to take his hand before pulling it away, "Just to clarify, this is _only_ to save my son. I'm not joining you on your quest to destroy the planet."

"This is _only_ to save my nephew," Brutus confirmed with a firm nod, "We only share information on Florian, we don't tell a soul, this has nothing to do with the Soul Eaters."

"Deal," Atticus agreed and shook his brother's hand, Brutus smiled at him weakly.

"This feels right, doesn't it? Us working on the same side."

"Yeah," Atticus agreed once more, this time sadly. He wished they _were _on the same side, "So what now?"

"Go back to Hogwarts, protect the scarred wrists: Scorpius, the Scamanders, Orous and Maurice. Try find out who's after them and what connection Antonius could have, I'll keep my people on Florian. If I find out anything, I'll contact you and if you find out anything then you contact me," Brutus decided quite rationally, even if Atticus would rather be out there. His brother's plan made more sense.

"Okay. How do we stay in contact? I'm not sure owls are the best method."

"Then don't use owls, we can talk through Patronuses," Brutus offered and flicked his wand, sending a silver hawk shooting out.

"I'm not sure I can cast one right now," Atticus admitted and Brutus held out his hand, Atticus' wand flew back to its which he then handed back to him, "I'm not sure its best anyway, if we're not alone and they blurt out a message…"

"Good point," Brutus conceded while Atticus focused on a happy memory and waved his wand, to his shock his Patronus wasn't his usual turtle but a different kind of bird. Brutus grinned and clapped him on the back, "Way to finally outgrow sharing your Patronus with your mother. Is that an Osprey?"

"I don't know," Atticus shrugged as the silver birds faded, "I'm not my daughter."

"If we just sent the birds without messages then we should avoid others overhearing, if we see the other's Patronus then we'll meet here the next day at say midnight in UK time."

"Okay," Atticus agreed gratefully and Brutus turned to go, "And Brutus?"

"Yeah?" Brutus wondered as he turned back to him.

"Thank you."

"Any time, Atty."

* * *

**Part 3: **Family

* * *

"Al, wake up," Vern's voice hissed and Albus' emerald eyes snapped open irritably, he felt like he'd only just closed them, "Your Mum wants to leave soon and she wants to have opened up the gifts before then so she says come on."

"I'm getting up," Albus grumbled as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, finding his roommate and cousin already up and dressed.

Despite James' room being currently unoccupied, his mum still didn't let Vern have it. Unlike his friends, he did think joining the Shadows was a low not even James would sink to – although apparently Uncle Ron had and he would've expected that even less – but he also thought there should be no problem letting Vern have it even temporarily because – despite his relationship having improved with Vern – their room was quite small for the two growing teenagers. Plus Albus was of age now, surely he earned his own room?

"Still upset with Abby staying with Sequoia?" Vern questioned as Albus dragged some clothes over to him.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because in your sleep last night you were punching your pillow and cursing Sequoia's name," Vern pointed out and Albus felt his cheeks burning scarlet as he started getting dressed.

"I wasn't asleep when I did that," Albus admitted ashamedly and Vern quickly found the curtains very interesting, he decided to change the subject, "So… You and Olivia, still together?"

"Just had our two year anniversary."

"Have you erm… Have you ever told her that you love her?" Albus wondered nervously and Vern glanced back to him.

"Yeah, why?"

"What- I mean do you remember what she said she when you first told her?"

"Well she said to me first so I said it back, we smiled and kissed," Vern said with a dismissive shrug as he folded his arms, "Why?"

"No reason," Albus sighed sadly, still hurt by Grozda's reaction. What was he doing wrong? Whatever it was, he'd be willing to change and do it right. Anything she wanted, he just wanted to make her happy and for her to love him back.

"Keep an eye on Hugo, will you?" Vern urged and Albus' focus shifted back to his cousin.

"Hugo?"

"Yeah, he's probably going to take his Dad going Shadow pretty badly and he's already going through a lot of crap at Hogwarts but he doesn't like to worry people."

"People still giving him a hard time?" Albus wondered curiously although in truth he was more worried about Rose, he thought Hugo took things better than she did. Plus he wanted to ask her if she'd heard from Abby because he was worried about her, she shouldn't be staying with Pentakel. The jerk was obviously trying to take advantage of her, was he really the only one who noticed or just the only one who cared?

"You didn't hear it from me but the last day, his roommates threw a bucket of pig's blood over him to wake him up."

"Nasty," Albus cringed as Vern threw on a coat, "Why don't you just keep an eye on him though? You know him better and all."

"Because I'm spending Christmas with my brother, remember?" Vern prompted and Albus did vaguely recall that, he also felt rather more disappointed than he would've been a few years ago. They'd taken the Dursley boy in since he was a wizard after his parents were killed while his grandmother raised his muggle siblings, recently his brother had been making an effort to rebuild their relationship though, "I'm not going to the Burrow."

"You should come, it'll be awesome," Albus stated encouragingly but falsely and Vern threw him the expected confused look, no one was going to be in a good mood after he news about Ron, "Well anyway, its family and stuff, you should come not hang out with a Dursley."

"I _am_ a Dursley, Al, and that's your family not mine. I never feel like I belong at those things."

"Well of course you're not going to feel like you belong if you don't show up and hang out with your brother instead."

"I don't belong because I don't belong," Vern insisted, "And it's too late, Malcolm will be here to pick me up any second."

Albus sighed as his cousin left him to finish changing, his spirits still poor. He was surprised to see his dad was actually there, he was sitting staring blankly off into nothing but he was there. It had to be the unhappiest present-opening ever, like they were going through the motions but all of the emotion had been sucked out. They were all quiet, mumbling thanks and half-smiling. It wasn't from a lack of gratitude – Albus had actually gotten some pretty neat things and treats, he knew Lily felt the same – but just a lack of cheer, the good eclipsed by the bad. His parents watched with sad eyes, his mum actually bursting into tears and running from the room when he opened one from Uncle Ron. Albus stopped reading out the labels after that. Vern had opened his before he left and there was a pile for James, just in case. He left Abby's gift unopened because he was still upset with her.

After that it was a quick Floo over to his grandparents at the Burrow, where the torturous Christmas gloom continued. They were late and the last ones there, the last ones who were coming anyway and it felt like there was less every year. Uncle Bill was there but he was widowed so alone, Uncle George but since his divorce he was also alone, Aunt Hermione but obviously her husband was absent now he was a Shadow, his other uncles were dead. There were also newcomers though he noticed, Victoire was with her husband Teddy Lupin – although he'd have been there anyway, plus his grandmother Andromeda – and Dom – he wondered if it was rude to notice she was looking a tad larger in the stomach department, odd considering he'd have thought she'd be getting plenty of exercise with Gray – with her much older husband Aurelius Ashain, Louis had brought his new girlfriend who was also an Auror, Freddie was with his long-time girlfriend Caitlin Birch and their year old – she'd be two in the spring – daughter Charla. Molly and Lucy weren't there, Lucy was with muggle friends and Molly with Gray. Roxy, Rose and Hugo were also there along with Cel Rooke and his son Vale, his grandparents were also obviously in attendance at their own home.

His grandmother, Andromeda and Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin were in the kitchen cooking, his mum went to join them as soon as they'd arrived. His grandfather was sitting with the now motherless Vale on his lap, trying to cheer up the poor toddler who looked tired and sad. In contrast, Charla seemed bubbly and happy as Freddie showed her off to his sister, Teddy, Victoire, Louis and Louis' girlfriend who Albus really needed to learn the name of. Aurelius was dressed in puke green and orange robes that Albus wouldn't be caught dead in, sitting with the father-in-law who despised him, Uncle George, Cel and Aunt Hermione. All but he and Aunt Hermione were drinking, his aunt staring off into space with her head in her hands while Aurelius just seemed reluctant, his dad went over to join them. Hugo was sitting near their grandfather where Lily went over to him, Rose was pretending to read and Dom was wandering around scarfing down food. Huh, maybe that was why she'd put on some weight. Albus went over to Rose though.

"Hey Rosie," Albus greeted her.

"Don't disrupt me, I'm reading," Rose insisted but he sat with her anyway.

"You've been staring at the same page since I arrived. And the words are upside down anyway," Albus pointed out and she sighed, glancing at the book and righting it, "How are you doing?"

"My Dad's a traitor, how do you think I'm doing?!" Rose snapped at him immediately, her voice cracking and tears filling her eyes before she composed herself, "Okay, I guess."

"Have you heard from Abby?"

"What is your obsession with Abby recently?" Rose complained at him with a roll of her eyes, "Did you not hear about my Dad?!"

"I did but I'm still worried about Abby," Albus insisted defensively, "I can't do anything about Uncle Ron but Abby… I bet Pentakel's parents wouldn't do anything to help her."

"The Pentakel kids are orphaned, Sequoia just lives with his sisters."

"_What?!_ That's even worse! Why would her parents let her go?!"

"Al, Abby's miserable at Christmas," Rose stated as if it were obvious, "Her brother died, her sister can't be bothered to show up and her parents are just sad about Nick on Christmas. She was excited again at the thought of spending it with Sequoia in a pleasant environment, they want her to be happy and so should you."

"But she's not going to be happy if he's taking advantage of her!" Albus insisted, still not sure why he was the only one who could see it, "Like you say, she's miserable and vulnerable and Sequoia is just manipulating her. He's a Ravenclaw, they know how to do that. What if he tries something with her?"

"Abby's a responsible girl, Al, and Sequoia's a good guy whether you believe it or not. She'll be fine. Not that it's any of your business or mine in the first place."

"Hey guys," Dom greeted them with a cheery smile, "You don't happen to have any spaghetti do you?"

"Why would we have spaghetti?" Albus wondered in bewilderment at the bizarre request.

"I don't know. But do you?"

"No," Rose shot her down, "Any news on my Dad from Aaron?"

"No. Are you _sure_ you have no spaghetti?"

"Why do you even want spaghetti?!" Albus questioned and Dom plopped down beside him unhappily.

"Because we didn't have breakfast and I'm starving, all I can think about is food," Dom admitted, "I really, _really_ fancy some spaghetti with butterscotch sauce."

"That sounds disgusting."

"I know," Dom agreed with a sigh, "But I want it."

"Well dinner will be ready soon," Rose assured her, "Even if it's hopefully not that. Why don't you go have a drink with your Dad who isn't a Shadow?"

"No," Dom shook her head fiercely, confusing him slightly, "I mean, it's just best to stay sharp not to drink considering the Shadows and all. Aaron has a no drinking policy and we'd like to stick to that, that's why me and Aurelius aren't drinking."

"I thought it was because he's used to expensive drinks and doesn't like this cheap stuff?" Rose wondered.

"That too, he has us both spoiled rotten. Last week he took me to a restaurant and we had-" Dom started to say but trailed off as an epiphany seemed to dawn on her, "Forget the spaghetti, I wonder what lobster would taste like with butterscotch."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Me? Never better. I'm going to go look for lobster," Dom announced as she headed off.

"Is it just me or is Aurelius' eccentricity rubbing off on her?" Rose questioned of him and Albus could only nod in agreement, "Let's hope Louis' girlfriend is nice, although Eudoxia is such an ugly name.

Luckily, dinner didn't take all that long to be served albeit not what Dom was hoping for and they could have a lovely family dinner. Except for Uncle Bill glaring murderously at Aurelius the whole time, Aunt Hermione's reluctance to eat, several of the adults – including Albus' dad, much to his surprise – drinking much more than they did usually, everyone trying to ignore the absences weighing on all of their minds and finally Vale who also didn't want to eat but unlike his aunt, screamed and cried when they tried to make him. The adults kept taking it in turns trying to get him to eat, oddly it was Aurelius who finally succeeded but even then it was far less then what would be considered a substantial meal and his grandfather managed to get Vale to drink some juice. Charla was no trouble.

"Now that we've finished that delicious meal – thanks Gran," Freddie announced as they moved back into regular seating to digest the food, pausing to thank their grandmother, "But before everyone takes the dishes out, Caitlin and I have an announcement."

"You're getting married?!" Uncle George guessed in a drunken slur and there were some assorted laughs, Freddie only smiled as he took his girlfriend's hand and pulled her up as well.

"No, not a marriage," Freddie shot it down and Albus swore his uncle looked somewhat disappointed by this. Freddie and Caitlin were trying not to smile though, "But a pregnancy! Caitlin and I are expecting another baby."

"Congratulations," Uncle Bill offered cheerfully, starting the chorus of best wishes while his grandmother rushed over to hug the couple.

Albus couldn't help but notice the disheartened look on Dom's face who didn't offer congratulations, she looked like she was really wrestling with something and put a hand on her stomach. Had she eaten too much? Or too much weird at least? Instead of heading off to the bathroom like he expected, she stood and cleared her throat to get attention onto herself instead. The room quietened and Dom fidgeted nervously.

"I-I also would like to say something," Dom stammered out, Aurelius giving her a look of surprise.

"You're finally getting divorced?" Uncle Bill guessed hopefully and Dom threw him a glare, snatching Aurelius' hand as if to prove that false.

"No," Aurelius offered and Uncle Bill slumped into is seat unhappily.

"I'm pregnant," Dom announced and unlike with Freddie, there was an awkward silence before his grandmother smiled and started to move over to hug her as well.

"Congrat-"

"NO!" Uncle Bill burst out furiously and jumped to his feet to cut her off, his face red with rage, "No! No! No! No! No! NO! You can't do this! You cannot be pregnant with his child, he is an old man with grandchildren and just… no! Its sick, it's wrong, it's an abomination of life!"

"Merlin's sake, Dad, for once in my life couldn't you just try to be supportive of me?!" Dom yelled at him angrily but tearfully, "Freddie has a baby and he practically gets a standing ovation, I have a baby and it's an abomination of life?! Aurelius is just as good a person as Caitlin is, our child is just as much a Weasley as their child by blood. Why can't you just be happy for me?! How can you even talk that away about your own grandchild?!"

"It's not my grandchild! It's not a child, it's a disgusting thing that shouldn't exist! And it won't exist because you're going to get rid of it, you're going to get an abortion and kill that thing and send it straight back to hell where it belongs or I will make you!"

"I-"

"Don't," Aurelius interrupted in a deathly quiet voice that made it all the more threatening, surprising even Dom judging from the expression on her tearstained face, usually he was very amicable, "Don't threaten my family, not my wife, not our unborn child. I don't care that you don't like me, you have _no_ right to speak to your daughter that way."

Everyone was speechless for a moment, Dom sniffed and buried her face in her husband's chest as Aurelius put his arms around her. Uncle Bill's face twisted once more with rage and the second he opened his mouth, Aurelius disapparated both him and Dom. Apparently he was done letting his wife be yelled at, Albus was somewhat regretful he hadn't had the chance to offer his support. He couldn't wait to tell Professor Ashain about his upcoming new sibling who was also Albus' new cousin, he wondered if that was enough of a family connection to get biased good grades or at least less homework. He did feel bad for Dom though and the baby, poor kid didn't know the screwed up family it was being born into.

"Why are you smiling?" Lily wondered of him curiously while his grandmother started berating Uncle Bill for upsetting Dom.

"Because I love our family despite how screwed up it is," Albus offered truthfully and clapped his sister on the shoulder cheerfully, "No matter what crap gets thrown at us, we're still going to stay strong."

"Your optimism is stupid."

"You're stupid," Albus countered childishly but Lily smiled nonetheless as she stuck her tongue out at him which totally was _not_ immature as Abby would probably say. He sighed sadly, their Christmas was probably going better then hers anyway despite everything since she was probably crying in the bathroom because she wanted to go home. He wished Abby was with him now. He'd make sure she was safe and happy.

* * *

Carver sighed heavily, not sure what compelled him to return to the home he'd been thrown out of. He didn't know why but he felt like he was on borrowed time lately, he was secretly against the Shadows and he couldn't help but feel it was only a matter of time before he was found out and killed. Before that, he just had to try and do as much good as he could because he had a choice, he could choose to be a better person. Leebin had taught him that. And now Leebin was their prisoner, he'd be tortured and killed, he'd die horribly when all he'd really done was try to help people. Carver knew he could probably save him if he tried, Leebin would have to go on the run with Pyrrhus and Jack though who would also torture him for Calderon's location. He wasn't sure he trusted them to not kill him, not after the Antonius abduction.

He did wish he could talk to Leebin though, tell him what he was doing and ask if it was the right thing. Stopping the Shadow Master was the right thing he knew but was it still the right thing when it involved abduction and murder, even torture? Was there a better way? Or were the sacrifices worth it? Maybe he was just having doubts out of guilt, Martha had been found out and butchered by a sorry excuse for a torturer. He could understand Ethan's point, now she was lying in the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts alone and in pain, trapped. Hogwarts was difficult to get into, he very much wished he could be with her now to apologize and whisk her away to safety. Whereas safety was, nowhere felt safe or had the stability of home. Maybe that was why he'd returned home for Christmas, he could return to neither Hogwarts nor the Training Tower and the home with his mother was all that was left.

He knocked on the door, loudly and clearly because he knew his maternal half-siblings could get pretty loud. A minute later the door was opened by Damien, the two year old was still bald, he had a long face but an easy smile, he alone of his mother's children had also inherited her azure eyes. His toothy grin widened more when he saw him and he threw his arms around his leg, Carver scooped him up to give him a proper hug. He supposed he should be glad, Damien was the most affectionate of the Reed kids.

"Carber! I lub you," Damien offered and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, Carver patted him gently on the back as he carried him inside, "I'm berry glad you'b comed back, Carber."

"I missed you too," Carver told him as he closed the door behind him, it was only sort of a lie.

It was always dark inside because his stepdad, Pegasus Reed, didn't like to let in much light. The couches were black leather and the carpet brown, now littered with toys and torn wrapping paper. His sisters were in there playing, Meg was the oldest at five with bushy shoulder-length brown hair and Emerald a year younger but her hair was kept cropped short although she had put a flower in it, both had dark brown eyes like their father. Meg was the only one allowed to wear dresses and have long hair, Pegasus had decided Emerald was too ugly. Carver thought this was both untrue and completely unfair, Pegasus had driven her to tears because of it numerous times and then mocked her for crying because it made her look uglier. Meg seemed to be showing off a new doll to Emerald who was playing with a ball, they both stopped when they saw him though and Emerald grinned as she ran over to him.

"Hey Em," Carver greeted his younger sister and scooped her into a hug as well, he had a soft spot for the girl, "And Meg, how are you?"

"I got this new dolly for Christmas and this dress and six more dresses and a hair clip and a pretty pink rocking pony that is upstairs and a new hat and three pairs of shoes and four skirts and these other dolls and eight stuffed animals and two ribbons and two tops _and_ a new tea cup set," Meg reeled off for him in her upbeat know-it all voice, she was her parents' favorite.

"Em an me gotta ball!" Damien told him excitedly and pointed to what Emerald had been playing with, apparently not realizing this wasn't a lot.

"How lovely, a whole ball between the two of you," Carver offered and Damien's smile widened further as he nodded.

"An we gotta keep the box!"

"How awesome."

"Hey Carver, didn't Daddy throw you out because you went and did bad like your good for nothing Father?" Meg questioned curiously, sounding very much like she was quoting verbatim.

"Shut up, Meg, I'm sure Carver can come home for Christmas," Emerald snapped defensively and nestled her head in further to his neck.

"Oh, okay then," Meg shrugged and opened her arms for a hug with a grin, Carver put the other two down to oblige, "But if you want your old room, Daddy gave it to Damien."

"You can hab it back," Damien offered immediately, "I lub you more than your bed, Carber."

"Very kind of you, Damien," Carver assured the toddler who smiled again, "But I won't be here for long."

"Please don't go," Emerald pleaded and squeezed his hand.

"I don't have a choice, sorry Em," Carver told her gently and rubbed her shoulder when she hung her head sadly, "Where are your parents anyway?"

"Mummy went upstairs to put the baby down for his nap," Meg informed him helpfully, "Daddy was punishing Amadeus for being naughty, he took a bite of an apple _without _permission."

"Daddy hates that," Carver muttered as he stood again although in truth Pegasus probably didn't, he just invented and abandoned rules constantly. The mute Amadeus would have a hard time asking for permission anyway, "Well I'll go up and say hello."

"Can you please stay for dinner?" Emerald pleaded desperately.

"I will ask."

Carver then left the three and headed upstairs, sadly recalling last Christmas when he'd been happy to be spending the holiday with James. He kind of regretted it now, he wondered if James would've still joined the Shadows if he hadn't let Xerxes get inside his head. It was dark upstairs as well, he found his parents' room – where they also kept the baby until it started sleeping through the night and could be trusted in one of its siblings rooms – where his mother would probably be. He'd never had the best relationship with his mother in truth, he tried but… they just didn't. Nervously but much more gently then before, he knocked on the door and heard his mother giving permission to enter. His mother and stepfather's room was the biggest room, not that it really felt it when Pegasus got the largest bed and chunky furniture to the cut the floor space down. The baby bassinet was by the window, he saw a sleeping pink lump bundled in blankets there while his mother lay on the bed beside it rocking it gently.

"Boy or girl?" Carver asked curiously, it had been born after he left and his father's tenth child was also due to be born this month. He groaned inwardly, why did his parents have to have so many freaking children?

"Boy. Caradoc, Pegasus called him," his mother told him before seeming to realize he was there and scrambled to sit, spinning to face him with her beady azure eyes widening in shock, "Carver? What are you doing here?"

"It's Christmas, time for family and all," Carver offered uncertainly as he strode over to her and sat on the bed beside her, she continued to watch him in shock, "Plus I thought I should meet my new baby brother."

"DON'T PRETEND LIKE YOU CARE, YOU SHADOW SCUM!" his mother spat before abruptly slapping him across the face, it was surprised it had taken her so long. She actually lowered the volume as baby Caradoc stirred though, "You hate me having kids."

"_You_ hate you having kids!" Carver insisted quite truthfully and his mother pouted as she folded her arms, "You think caring for children is the worst thing in the world."

"Pegasus needs heirs, it's my duty as his wife to provide them for him."

"No, it isn't. Pegasus is an asshole."

"Pegasus is a wonderful man and he loves me! You just don't understand how marriage works."

"Pegasus is not a wonderful man, _Maeghan_."

"My name is_ Mary_, Carver," his mother protested irritably, "You should know that, Pegasus likes the name Mary better than Maeghan."

"Mother, people who love each other don't make them change their names," Carver insisted determinedly, "You can't put up with his crap."

"Is that why you came here? To insult the wonderful man who puts a roof over our heads, food on the table, the man who raised you like his own son even though you're not and who loves us?"

"Firstly, Pegasus is not capable of love and secondly, no," Carver stated and sighed, "I did just come to see my family on Christmas."

"If you wanted to see us for Christmas then you shouldn't have joined the Shadows," his mother pointed out stubbornly, "Pegasus says they're bad, like the Voldemort people. I should've known you'd join them, you've always been bad. Pegasus says I shouldn't blame myself though, I'm a wonderful mother who does everything right and it was clearly all Xerxes' fault because I did everything right, that's what Pegasus says. Why did you even join them anyway?"

"It's a long story," Carver sighed and his mother looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before patting his hand.

"Well it was good for you to come back so maybe the new Shadow Voldemort people aren't so bad, I'll ask Pegasus if you can stay just for dinner. If you help me with dinner it would be good too, it's harder when it's just me cooking without you."

"Thank you," Carver offered and his mother nodded before leaving to go ask Pegasus because Pegasus knew everything.

He sighed as he watched his sleeping brother, wishing very much they could trade places so he wouldn't have to deal with the war anymore. He heard the door creak and turned in surprise at how fast she'd spoken to Pegasus but it was just his final maternal half-sibling, Amadeus who was three. Pegasus had decided his first born son was so ugly – again not true – that he had to wear a mask, hence why the boy was wearing one of those blank drama masks tied around his head right now although Pegasus also used a paper bag with eye sockets or a sack with eye sockets which made him look like a scarecrow. He had dark almost black hair like Pegasus that cascaded in waves almost to his shoulders, his eyes were also dark and barely visible through the gaps in the mask. In truth, Carver often found Amadeus quite creepy because he never spoke, could never gauge expression because of his face being covered and he liked to randomly follow him, he was very clingy. Amadeus limped over to him and Carver pulled him into a hug which had the toddler clinging to him tightly, he was being nice to his siblings after all today. It was Christmas, maybe Amadeus had grown out of his silence and Carver knew he should really be more sympathetic to the least favorite child.

"How are you, Amadeus?" Carver asked of him gently and pulled Amadeus away to give him a chance to answer, the boy said nothing while the door opened and his mother returned, "I thought so."

"I'm sorry, Carver, Pegasus says you can't stay because you're a fugitive and it could make him look bad if we let you stay," his mother informed him and Amadeus immediately clung to him again but his mother wrenched the boy off, "Bad Amadeus! Carver has to go now, he doesn't want you getting in his way. Goodbye, Carver."

"Can I say goodbye to the others?"

"Pegasus said no," his mother barked and Carver sighed as he stood, Amadeus' eyes looking watery as he waved shakily while Carver took a last look around because he'd probably never come back or see the siblings again.

"Goodbye then," Carver offered and disapparated sadly.

* * *

**Part 4: **Slipping

* * *

Maurice sat on his bed sadly of his small room back in Cade's house, it was all very neat and he'd just finished finding spaces to slot in the gifts he'd received so it was once again idea. It was better to be neat, clutter hindered your movements if you were attacked and had to duel your way out of it. He wished he'd stayed in Hogwarts, he could've kept an eye on Martha and the school. Christmas was supposed to be a time for family though, he'd _tried_ to be with his but he wasn't a Knox. Cade had raised Orous, they knew each other and they loved each other, were both familiar with the muggle environment. Maurice felt rather out of place and attempts to make him feel included just made him feel even more like he didn't belong, it was their world, their family and their home. It didn't help Orous still hated him.

He'd been raised in schools, they felt much more like home to Maurice and the constant lessons kept his mind occupied, away from thoughts like that. He pulled his favorite photograph out of his pocket, one of him and Lenore. Lenore, his girlfriend who had died months ago in the attack on Hogwarts, she wasn't dead in the picture though but smiling and laughing, full of life. He'd known for years what death was, how to cause it and he had many, many times but he'd never known until then what it felt like to experience the death of someone you loved. It hurt. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye as the door opened, his twin being the one to do it. Maurice put a hand to his necklace in readiness to translate.

_Dad says it's your turn to help with the dishes_, Orous' words came simply around his head before he turned to leave. That was all their conversations were now, short and succinct and only if truly necessary.

"Orous, wait," Maurice called after him, recalling what Scorpius had said about talking to him as he got up and went over to his brother who turned back to him irritably. What would be the socially acceptable way to phrase this? "Why do you hate me now?"

_I don't hate you_, Orous stated blankly, Maurice was getting better at being able to tell if people were lying with his Legilimency but his brother's broken soul made it impossible to get a read on him.

"Then why are you treating me different?"

_I'm surprised you noticed_, Orous said before sighing, _I'm just. I don't even know_

"You have to know, tell me. What did I do?" Maurice half-pleaded and half-demanded, unsure of the best option, "I thought we were brothers."

_So did I_, Orous insisted, _And then when I needed you, you just let me down_

"When?"

_When I had to murder our mother to save your life. Of all the things I thought I had to worry about with you, you not having my back wasn't one of them_, Orous explained and looked saddened while Maurice just shifted uncomfortably, thinking of the event was just painful and Orous had very nearly died as well, _I never wanted to kill and as much as I hate Alzay, she was still our mother and I can't be happy about her death. Especially it was me. You're fine with killing but I'm not, I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. And my own mother, what kind of horrible person kills their own mother_

"Alzay killed her mother, I killed her father and you killed her, that's just how it goes in our family," Maurice pointed out but if anything, Orous looked worse, "Look, I still don't see why you're mad at me. I refused to duel her, I didn't tell you to kill her instead."

_What was I supposed to do. Let you die_

"Maybe. What did you want to happen?"

_I wanted you to pick up your wand and fight, you preach about war and soldiers and fighting but you just threw down your wand in the end. Why couldn't you just duel her and kill her yourself_

"Wait a minute," Maurice offered and held up his free hand as something dawned on him, "All of you people constantly criticize and mock my stance as being wrong, insist I should be more like everyone else but here when I actually do something human like not want to fight my own Mother its wrong? What do you expect me to do?! What do you people want from me?!"

_I don't know, Maurice, I told you I don't know_, Orous stated as he held up his hands, backing out of the door, _And again, dishes_

Orous left him and Maurice glumly went out to go help Cade with the dishes, feeling even worse about his relationship with his brother now. He was no closer to fixing it then he was to stopping the Shadows, word had struck yesterday they'd taken the capital of Lebanon. He thought this meant the Shadow Master was likely going to try bridge the gap between Egypt and Turkey, having a solid center of Shadow territory to amass their army before branching out. Not that that really helped with figuring out what to do, killing the Shadow Master was the obvious answer but that was far easier said than done considering he had an army, a powerful Scepter and was powerful even without it. He was even less sure about how to repair the rift between him and his brother, even further from figuring out how to get over his grief for Lenore.

Maurice sighed heavily and lazily washed the dishes with the magical gift he'd been born with, he wondered if Cade ever found it weird how he couldn't do magic. It was a strange world to be a muggle. He hoped Roman was enjoying his Christmas, he was probably just delighted to not have to deal with his own sons. Maurice went to bed early after that but tossed and turned for hours, still feeling rather alone. He was alone. Lenore was dead, he had no parents, his only brother hated him and his friends couldn't care less. Feeling restless and thirsty, he got up in the middle of the night and went to get a drink with a swarm of dogs to help him. He sat in the dark sipping his glass of water, he still didn't see the point of holidays in schools. Wasn't working more productive then this?

The dogs wandered off randomly and it took him a second to realize why, Cade was coming down the stairs. He started to wonder if a hearing person would've heard footsteps before his line of thought came to an abrupt halt, Cade wasn't alone and he wasn't with Orous. It was a woman he'd never seen before with bouncy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, she had quite a curvaceous figure and had her fingers interlocked with Cade's. They were smiling and talking to each other, heading towards the front door and not noticing him in the dark. She was fully dressed and all bundled up against the cold while Cade was in his pajamas, beneath her coat he noticed she was wearing a St Mungo's uniform. She put her arms around his neck when they got to the doorway and he encircled his around her waist, they kissed passionately and excessively lengthily before she left. Maurice took that as his cue to light his wand up to alert Cade to his presence, the muggle leaped so frightfully back he hit the front door.

"Who's the witch?" Maurice demanded of him.

'You saw that?' Cade signed to him as he strode over, his fright turning to guilt while Maurice nodded. The tall man sighed as he sat down beside him, 'Her name is Tabitha Morse, she's a Healer at St Mungo's. She was working today but wanted to say hello when she finished, she's really nice and we're dating.'

"Cade, you shouldn't be dating," Maurice shot out immediately, surprised and annoyed Cade could date after how bad things had gotten with Alzay, "What if she's another Shadow who's drugged you with Love Potion?"

'Because I'm not head over heels in love and obsessed with this woman after one date. Besides, her parents were killed when the werewolf army attacked Hogsmeade.'

"Well then why are you keeping it a secret?"

'It's not a secret, we just haven't been dating very long and I don't want to bring it up unless it gets more serious in case it doesn't work out. We're taking it slow.'

"How long have you been dating?" Maurice asked him curiously.

'Since June,' Cade admitted and Maurice opened his mouth to insist that was a pretty substantial amount of time but Cade had already started signing once more with a concerned expression, 'What about you? Are you alright? Why are you down here in the middle of the night?'

"Couldn't sleep."

'Do you want to talk about it?'

"Don't try to change the subject. What's to talk about?" Maurice scoffed, "Orous hates me."

'Orous doesn't hate you,' Cade insisted, 'He may be upset with you but he doesn't hate you.'

"How'd you know?"

'Because I know my son. He wouldn't have done what he did if he hated you, he's upset with you but he's upset with himself more.'

"Well how do I stop making him be upset?" Maurice questioned and Cade shook his head at him.

'People are complex, you can't just wave your wand and fix things,' Cade signed to him seriously, 'Tell me, are you sad about your mother dying?'

"I don't know," Maurice admitted with a shrug, "I thought I was but… I guess I'm more sad for what she wasn't then who she was if that makes sense. It's eclipsed by Lenore's death anyway."

'You still miss her?'

"Yes," Maurice stated firmly and subconsciously pulled out the picture of them to look at, "I loved her, I really did because I'm not heartless like my friends think."

'What makes you think they think that?'

"They always say stuff like I'm not human or I'm not a person just because I think about something differently to them, they think I should be over Lenore by now."

'It really bothers you that they think that, doesn't it?' Cade signed, looking quite surprised.

"Yes. Just I think differently, it doesn't mean I'm not human. I can feel things," Maurice insisted, feeling upset, "I think I've come a long way to being more normal and seeing things from their side, doesn't that matter? Just because I view things from a more strategic point of view and can be more ruthless about things, it doesn't mean I don't care and anything I say or think is wrong. I wish I was as heartless as they think I am but I'm not!"

'Why do you wish that?'

"Emotions complicate things. And they suck and they hurt," Maurice snapped childishly and idly thumbed the photograph as tears pricked his eyes.

'It hurts that Lenore's gone.'

"Yeah, I never realized before how someone you know for a relatively short amount of time could have such a profound impact. It feels like there's this gaping void where she used to be and I don't know how to make it feel better."

'It never gets better,' Cade signed to him, 'I lost my family when I was around your age and it still hurts that they're gone. But it does get easier in time.'

"How much time?" Maurice asked but Cade shrugged, "It feels like it's never going to get any better, she died and it hurts. I let her down and apparently I let Orous down, now I've lost two of the people who matter the most to me. I understand how to be a soldier but I don't understand how to deal with this."

Whatever Cade was going to sign next was lost as Maurice buried his face in his hands to hide the fact he was crying, his guilt-ridden grief crashing down on him. Cade didn't abandon him though, he just put his arm around him comfortingly.

* * *

"Want some turkey?" Pyrrhus Florian offered to their new prisoner, waving a plate in his general direction.

He, Jack and One, Oathan and the successfully captured Antonius were currently staying in a motel but had moved frequently and constantly since taking him. The Aurors may not care much but the Ashains did, he wasn't particularly concerned about Antonius' father but his uncle was scary as fuck when he was angry and involving his family was the easiest way to make him angry. Ideally, Pyrrhus had wanted to stay in an unused house to have a proper Christmas dinner for his son but they hadn't managed to find one. Nonetheless, he'd done his best with what the motel provided and gotten gifts for Oathan so it was something.

"No," Antonius answered with a stony look.

"There's no point going hungry just because you don't like being a prisoner," Pyrrhus insisted pleasantly before nibbling on the meat, "In fact, when you're a prisoner you _should_ always eat since you need to keep your strength up if you plan to escape."

"I don't eat meat that comes from birds," Antonius stated icily, "My sister can speak to them so she thinks its cannibalism."

"We have ham too," Oathan assured him brightly and lumped some onto the plate, taking it from Pyrrhus to hand to Antonius who just glanced disinterestedly at the plate, "Are you sad that you gotted nothing for Christmas? You can have one of mine if you like, you can pick whatever thing you want."

"My uncle's dead and you're holding me prisoner against my will, a Christmas present is not going to cut it," Antonius snapped irritably causing Oathan to look somewhat disheartened.

"Two Christmas presents?"

"For the love of…" Jack complained as he stalked over and struck Antonius across the face with the back of his hand, using enough force to knock him over, "_Eat!_"

"Hey! No striking our guests," Pyrrhus insisted and lazily healed Antonius' very minor injury as the boy got back up, a flicker of guilt crossed Jack/One's face.

"_He's useless to us if he dies_," One pointed out testily as his… it… they? folded their arms. Pyrrhus was unsure of the correct phrasing.

"What do you even want with me?" Antonius demanded as he glanced between them, "You've had me a few days and all we do is keep traveling, it doesn't seem like you have an actual destination in mind."

"We'll get to that," Pyrrhus assured him as he brushed it off, "For now, it's just important to make sure no one is on your trail."

Antonius' expression remained stony but he did take the plate from Oathan to start eating, causing the boy to beam as he started chatting to him about how they didn't have Christmas at the Training Tower. Jack/One slinked back to their corner without another word, still annoyed with him for killing Jasper when he could've destroyed his soul. Pyrrhus leaned back against the wall and continued eating the turkey as he watched the two boys.

"Funny, isn't it?" Joel commented and Pyrrhus shrieked in surprise, jumping away as his dead brother appeared by his side once more with a cruel smirk, "You think you're so much better than us yet here you are keeping a child prisoner, you're just like the rest of us."

"It's not the same," Pyrrhus insisted defensively, ignoring the looks the others gave him, "I'm not hurting him."

"No, you're just going to wind up destroying his soul. That is so much better," Joel quipped sarcastically.

"It is," Pyrrhus whined, it was to kill the Shadow Master after all and it wasn't like he wanted the boy to be hurt.

"Not like Dad wanted us to be hurt either, he just cared more about what he wanted then what you did."

"That's right I did," Linden commented and Pyrrhus shrieked as he jumped again, his father just appearing on his other side. He smiled, "He's my favorite age too. I remember when _you_ were my favorite age, all I used to do to you…"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Pyrrhus screamed at them both and backed away from the wall to face them both, suddenly finding it quite hard to breathe, "Both of you shut up and leave me alone!"

"Oh, baby brother but you _are _alone. We're all inside your head," Joel taunted.

"Aw what's wrong, Pyrrhy?" Linden cooed as he appeared by his side again, reaching out to caress his cheek.

"GO AWAY!" Pyrrhus yelled as he recoiled in fear of his father and backed off still finding himself incapable of breathing, spinning as he did so to see the actual read people in the room, "Th-The air is choking me, I need to go outside."

Pyrrhus practically ran outside and slammed the door shut behind him, he leaned back against it and hung his head. He shivered as the cool tendrils of the winter wind stroked his skin but at least he knew the air was fresh, he stood there for a minute breathing heavily before noticing it oddly getting warmer.

He looked up in surprise and saw instead of the snow sprinkled environment it had been when he'd last been out there, it was hot with the bright burning sun set in a clear blue sky with no hint of white to be seen. He staggered forward in surprise, the frosted grass was now a vibrant green. He wasn't even sure it was the same place.

"What is happening to me?" Pyrrhus asked of no one in particular.

"You're insane, remember?" his brother pointed out and Pyrrhus spun to see Xerxes standing behind him, he backed away but his brother continued to approach him with a look of disgust, "I knew it, I always knew it. That's why I never liked you, you're insane and a disgrace to wizards everywhere."

"It's not my fault!"

"Well it's not mine," Xerxes scoffed as he backed Pyrrhus against a picnic table, "I saved you and stabbed me in the back. You're just rotten to the core, aren't you? To kill your own brother after everything I did for you."

"You did one good deed, Xerxes, stop acting like it makes you a saint!" Pyrrhus yelled at him in frustration, "You know why I started trying to become an animagus?! To escape the Training Tower because it was that bad!"

"But you didn't," Marvin commented as he appeared on his left, "You never came back for me. You left me to rot."

"Because by the time I'd mastered it, I'd lost all sense of hope and knew if I fled then I'd be hunted until I died," Pyrrhus insisted as he felt a rush of sadness as tears pricked his eyes, "I couldn't help you, I couldn't even help myself. You turned bad anyway."

"We all turn bad eventually, you know that," Linden pointed out in a patronizing tone from his right, "You're going to destroy a child to save a world of bad."

"I'm not doing it for the world," Pyrrhus protested determinedly as the tears rolled down his eyes, "I'm doing it for my son."

"You'll fail you know," Joel taunted and Pyrrhus spun to see his brother had appeared on the other side of the bench, "You're a loser, Pyrrhy, and you'll always be a loser. Your plan will fail, you'll have six dead kids and nothing to show for it. They'll kill Carver and Martha for their betrayal, Oathan will either be killed or enslaved in the Training Tower once more and you'll die a failure."

"I have to try and it has to work, it's the _only_ way."

"If you're going this nuts over one random child you barely know, how do you expect to complete your plan when you have to kill Oathan's half-brothers?" Marvin questioned of him but he was still staring at Joel's direction where beyond him he saw a ten year old version of himself sitting with his father on the other picnic bench, his child self crying because he knew he couldn't get away. They'd been on holiday on there, that's what he was seeing, a memory, "Including Maurice, the child you mentored and actually give a damn about? There's no hope, Pyrrhus, there never is."

"Well I'm going to try, dammit!" Pyrrhus insisted as he jumped up onto the bench beside him, whipping out his wand and aiming it as his father on the bench, "_Avada Kedavra!"_

The jet of green light struck his father and he toppled over dead, the edges of Pyrrhus' mouth curled into a smirk. It felt _good_ to kill his father and actually seemed to get rid of them, his child-self watched in horror though. He spun on the bench, firing Killing Curses with perfect aim to every one of his hallucinations to send then spiraling. Finally he struck his wand through the air and lit the other buildings up in an explosive inferno of fire, he cackled with delight while the tears continued to stream from his eyes.

"WHO'S A LOSER AND WHO'S A FAILUE NOW?! I CAN DO THIS!" Pyrrhus screamed at nothing and his child-self fled.

He fell to his knees on the bench, sobbing shakily as he tried to banish the bad thoughts from his brain. Finally he wiped his eyes, the crackling flames filling his ears and sending warmth into the cold air. Wait, cold? He leaped to his feet and spun as he took in the scene, it was now more like the motel he'd thought he'd been with the ground covered in snow while more fluttered down form the inky air. He could see his breathe in front of him and then he saw the dead, littering the ground while some random child ran. The inferno was still there, destroying the other buildings.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jack demanded of him and yanked him down from the bench, "We're supposed to be not drawing attention to ourselves!"

"Wh-What happened? Did you kill those people?" Pyrrhus stammered out anxiously and the Specter-man looked at him incredulously.

"_You killed those people_," One insisted, much to Pyrrhus' shock and horror.

"B-But I was just hallucinating."

"Well don't," Jack spat as he pushed him away, "And now we have to move again and try cover our trail again."

"_You could've at least let us destroy their souls if you were going to butcher a load of muggles_," One added irritably as it stalked back in the direction of their room, Pyrrhus swallowed fearfully and looked back at the devastation he'd caused.


	9. Chapter 9: Troubling Times

_**Parts (35-39)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 9  
**

Troubling Times

* * *

**Part 1: **Vacation's End

* * *

Scorpius was surprised to say the least, his first instinct was obviously remnants of PAW but why would that cause Leebin to go missing? He wouldn't just abandon his injured family which meant he'd been abducted, why would PAW kidnap one of the few members of the family who wasn't a werewolf? But if not PAW then who? The Shadows was an obvious guess but what the hell would they want with Leebin? Was the mental health issues of Aurors really worth holding him captive for? And if not the Shadows then who? Florian maybe but why was anyone's guess and anyone for ransom was also pointless, the Leebins weren't rich. He was really left stumped and saddened, Leebin had helped him after all.

His mother insisted they visit them in the hospital though so they were dragged there on Christmas Eve, Myriam was still being tended to and Maurene was still unconscious but Lysel was stable. He was sitting up in bed, his wrist bandaged and a new scar going through his eyebrow making him reminiscent of his grandfather. Sol squealed with delight and tore over to his friend, clambering up onto the bed and giving Lysel a hug. The werewolf smiled weakly and hugged him back as they followed him in.

"Sol, don't run off like that," his father chided while Scorpius frowned in confusion, Sol ignoring him to strike up a garbled conversation with Lysel and show him the toy he'd brought.

"Why haven't they healed his wrist yet?" Scorpius asked of no one in particular.

"If he's fragile enough they may use a slower but more subtle method to heal them," Michael pointed out, "Quickly snapping it back into place might cause more damage if the bones aren't strong enough to handle it, most people are fine but people with conditions or sometimes the elderly can be effected by this."

"That is absolutely correct, Michael, you'll be a great Healer someday," his mother praised him and Michael also smiled weakly, "Scorpius, will you watch the boys for a second? I'd like to see Myriam and Maurene real quick, come on Draco."

"They're not conscious, dear," his father stated as if it were quite obvious while Scorpius nodded his consent, "They won't know if we were there."

"We will," his mother insisted and led his father away with a roll of the latter's eyes.

"I hope Myriam will be okay. Maurene too, she's just a kid," Michael said with a sigh while Scorpius watched the toddlers, something occurring to him as he went over to sit by Lysel.

"How you doing, Lysel?" Scorpius asked the werewolf gently.

"Hurts," Lysel told him as he raised his wrist while Sol giggled.

"The eye hair's funny," Sol pointed out as he almost poked Lysel in the eye pointing out the scar, Scorpius batted his brother's hand away.

"Must've been scary when it was hurt, huh?" Scorpius commented to Lysel, for once he looked quite sad as he nodded and Scorpius put an army around him comfortingly, "Was it trolls?"

"No. It was Shadows," Lysel told him immediately as he lowered his wrist, Sol giggled again while Scorpius just felt concerned.

"They not do," Sol insisted and waved his hand, pointing out his own Shadow.

"Not shadows. _The_ Shadows," Lysel insisted worriedly while Sol just looked at him blankly, "That the growed ups say."

"How do you know it's them, Lysel?" Michael asked gently as he also came over, Lysel swallowed and pointed to a newspaper on a table at the door featuring the Shadow Mark as the skeletal snake symbol the Shadows used had come to be called.

"They had it on their clothering."

"What did they do?"

"They hitted Daddy with a red light and he felled asleep then Mummy fightered them, there was lights and bangs and noise. Mummy say to hide and I got hitted in the arm by a light, I heared a snap and it hurt really bad and was not right and then Maurene pushted me into the door out of the way and got hitted," Lysel recounted as his golden eyes started to tear up, Sol looked somewhere between puzzled and concerned, "There was red all everywhere and Maurene was cry, I sayed to her 'you're almost in here, comed on Maurene!' and she tried to crawl but a light hit off the wall and hit her then she screameded so loud and falled asleep. It went all quiet after a bit and I looked and sawed them walk over Mummy, she was sleeping in red water and they took Daddy. Daddy sleeped through it all and I could not wake up Mummy or Maurene, why did every all of them keep sleeping? Why did Shadows take Daddy? Daddy is good."

"I don't know," Scorpius sighed heavily, glad to hear a version of events even if he wasn't pleased with what had occurred.

"Will Mummy and Maurene wake up soon? When will they give Daddy back? I want to go home."

"I don't know either, Lysel, it may be a while," Scorpius repeated apologetically and the toddler's face fell along with Scorpius' heart, Sol gave him another tight hug though while his parents returned.

"Is'okay Lysel, we's'll tek care of you," Sol assured his friend with a warm smile that Lysel returned weakly, Scorpius watched sadly. If only his brother knew helping a werewolf friend was not that simply, "Right, Mama?"

"Yes," his mother confirmed.

"No," his father said at the exact same time, his parents glancing at each other, "No, Astoria, _no_, we are not taking in a werewolf."

"But if we don't his creepy uncle will get him, Myriam _hates_ Flan's uncle and doesn't trust the kids alone with him."

"She also hates mayonnaise, should we hate that too?!"

"You're letting Michael stay," Scorpius pointed out determinedly.

"Letting a teenage werewolf stay with you temporarily is completely different to taking in a werewolf baby permanently, he still needs to learn self-control and to behave. It's completely unsafe to be around him let alone to raise our son alongside him which we very well may have to if Myriam dies since Flan is either already dead or will be soon enough. Lysel will die too but he could still take Sol with him, not to mention one of us!"

"Draco, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" his mother said stiffly, apparently thinking better of arguing in front of the small children and the two went outside.

"What is die?" Sol wondered curiously and Lysel shrugged, Scorpius and Michael both stayed silent.

Michael managed to steer the conversation back into more pleasant territory at any rate, amusing them and got the toddlers back to laughing cheerful. His parents returned in a while and they left not long after that as visiting hours were ending, they apparently were not done fighting though because the argument reignited when they got home. Scorpius just returned up to his room with Michael, well out of range of his parents.

"Any thoughts to why the Shadows would be after Leebin?" Scorpius asked of his friend curiously.

"You know Annie's right, you suck at small talk," Michael commented and continued before Scorpius could speak up, "And no, I have no idea. Although I do barely know the guy, I'm not sure what he could know that's so important the Shadows would take him."

"We should ask Varanian if he has anything."

"Or you could give him a few days to actually come up with something."

"I suppose that works too," Scorpius admitted and did his best to try not think about it for the rest of the day, he was trying to get Michael to relax after all.

He didn't think he succeeded entirely though because he fell into an uneasy dream about Leebin being tortured and killing himself before Scorpius could rescue him much to Hogan's fury, he was forced to put it out of his mind though because the next day was Christmas. For once he was really looking forward to it because Michael was there, Sol was also old enough to start being deliriously excited. His parents still both seemed tense though, barely saying two words to each other. Sol didn't notice though, he was just happy to be tearing open presents although he did frequently keep asking after Lysel.

Michael's gift load was rather lacking compared to theirs despite Scorpius' attempts to get him plenty of things but he didn't seem to mind, after they spent the better part of the day relaxing around the manor and testing the new Wizard Chess Set Michael had gotten or playing with Sol. Michael seemed in a good mood but it was always pretty hard to tell with him whether it was sincere or not, dinner was delicious although Scorpius panicked for a moment when his grandmother asked if they could have wine and Michael's head shot up interestedly. Thankfully, his parents refused because of Scorpius' presence since they still thought he had a problem with alcohol and Michael did have the decency to look guilty.

He was also reminded of the difference to the Weasley family, things were much calmer and civilized even with a two year old to stir things up. Idly, he wondered how Molly's Christmas was going and recalled he still needed to give her and Latimer their gifts. He very nearly ringed over but decided against it, it was pretty late by then and he knew Christmas wasn't Varanian's favorite time of the year due to his family's deaths. They went the next day though while his parents took Sol to visit Lysel again, there was still no news on Leebin. He walked in and almost into his girlfriend when he reached the kitchen while Michael was called off by Annie, it felt like a lot longer than four months since he'd seen Molly. She was looking a bit more tired but otherwise no different, she smiled when she saw him and hugged him gently.

"It's so good to see you," Molly whispered into his ear, not pulling away from the embrace.

"Yeah," Scorpius muttered, he was happy to see her… He just also felt kind of sad about her blowing off the last two Hogsmeade trips, he said nothing about it though as they finally pulled away and she led him up to her room.

He realized he hadn't actually been in her room before, not in the hideout anyway since she was living there now to work full time with Gray. She had some pictures of landscapes lining the walls, some Gryffindor memorabilia, he remembered she liked them while photographs lined the flat surfaces that were mostly of her family. Not all though, he was surprised to see plenty of him or them together, friends and some of the Quidditch team. The bed had a quilt thrown over it and on the pillow were the same stuffed toys she'd had before, aside from the bed there was a chest of drawers and a bedside table either side of the single bed and that was it except from her broom propped up in the corner.

"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you in Hogsmeade," Molly apologized immediately as they sat down on the bed, looking guilty, "I was busy the first time and I meant to go the second time, I was going to surprise you but I got caught up."

"It's okay," Scorpius brushed it off, glad to get an explanation at least even if he'd rather have seen her, "I know stopping the Shadows is really important and the work you're doing, whatever that is."

"It still sucks though, doesn't it?"

"It wouldn't be so bad if you would talk to me."

"I know but you know owl post isn't guaranteed to go unread, especially with the Aurors patrolling the grounds who – both Shadows and non – are well aware you're associated with Gray. I have to be careful about what I say and then since all I'm doing is Gray, it doesn't leave me a lot that can I actually talk about," Molly explained glumly, she seemed rather down, "I never know what to say."

"I… guess I can understand that," Scorpius admitted and took her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers, "But we're together now and that's all that matters. So tell me, how've you been?"

Molly seemed more than happy to launch into an explanation of the past few months, in fact if he didn't know any better he'd think she was relieved he wasn't mad at her. She talked about Varanian had been training them, honing their dueling skills a bit like Scorpius but mostly teaching them how to spy and track, some protective enchantments as well. It required practice and experience so she was often out with Varanian, following known Shadows and looking for leads on information. There wasn't a lot happening in England currently so it was quite hard to get good information especially since John Avery had inadvertently killed some of their known Shadows leads when he saved Ivy, it wasn't from lack of trying though and if anything they had to put more effort in.

Florian was also difficult to track, Specter travel – how Specters and Jack could teleport people and himself – was impossible to follow so even if they were on his trail – he moved in a variety of different ways to throw people – they always lost him when he did that. She also told him about Rose's father Ron confessing to being a Shadow – the reason she seemed quite sad today – but they didn't have a lot of information on that yet, Varanian wasn't convinced it was true and finally how she'd spent Christmas with Latimer and his dad. In turn he filled her in on his year so far with Alchemy, NEWTs, Captainship, the attempted murders – that she was aware of – and finally his own Christmas with Michael as well as the attack on the Leebins.

"That we do know something about," Molly admitted when he was done, "Hal doesn't know a lot but Leebin's disappearance is connected to Uncle Ron's betrayal somehow, Uncle Harry's pretty upset about it. We know Leebin was taken from England immediately, if not we'd be able to find out more information about him and maybe try to save him. It's quite annoying when they do anything overseas, it's not talked about much because it doesn't need to be and hard to get in on. Uncle Ron is overseas too."

"Damn," Scorpius sighed, "I was hoping for some good news. Least he's alive though, right? There's a chance we can save him."

"He's still alive," Molly confirmed, "If they wanted him dead then they'd have just killed him, they need him for something. Probably information, either about Calderon or something else we aren't aware of yet."

"That's something. Guess there's no word on finding Calderon either?"

"Still nothing," Molly offered before putting her arms around him and kissing him, he relished the feel of her soft lips against his for the long, lingering kiss before she pulled away with a slight blush on her cheeks, "Sorry, been wanting to do that for months."

"Me too," Scorpius admitted and leaned in to kiss her again, this time more passionately as he ran his fingers through her fiery curls.

He didn't know how long they made out for or how long they'd been talking before then but he did know when Michael knocked on the door, thinking it was about time they left. Scorpius supposed he was right, it was later then he'd thought. Thankfully, his parents arguing about Lysel meant they hadn't really noticed he was gone and not simply with Michael avoiding them fighting. Well, he wasn't especially thankful that his parents were fighting but it did work in his favor in this one instance. He didn't remember the last time his parents had fought so much, every couple fought though he supposed.

Eventually his mother did seem to win the fight because once Lysel's wrist was healed – which only took a few days even with the slower magic – he was brought home with them, much to both his father's and grandmother's chagrin. His mother and the toddlers were pleased though, Scorpius was very much on her side with this. Leebin had helped him and the least he could do was help his son, especially since they still had no luck with saving Leebin and really he was quite offended by their prejudice. He spent the rest of his week balancing his time with his family, Michael and Gray where priority did go to mastering transformation while Michael would spend time with his aunt, he also gave some time to his girlfriend as well and caught up with Latimer too who was similarly being trained by Varanian like Molly.

Aside from worrying about Leebin and Calderon, it was a fairly pleasant holiday for the rest of the week and it was kind of nice to relax. As December gave way for the new year in the second week, Michael arranged to spend the last few days with his mother like Crystal had wanted and enlisted Annie's help in this so he could pretend to be staying with her – his father had met her anyway – since his family were supposed to be dead. Scorpius was okay with that, he thought it was probably good for Michael to spend some time with his family as well.

The second week was also the week before the next full moon and he noticed the shift in Lysel's health, similar to Michael but much sooner and more intense. He was bedridden – much to Sol's confusion – by the time Michael left, too weak even sit up and keeping his eyes open seemed a struggle. Scorpius hoped he'd be okay and almost wished he could've stay there for the full moon to make sure Lysel was alright, he wasn't afraid to be around a werewolf when they transformed especially since he was an animagus. After Michael left, he threw himself into his training and by the time he was packing to return to Hogwarts he could transform at will without needing spells and with his mind fully intact.

* * *

Michael was not looking forward to spending time with his family, mostly because of John Avery. He didn't even know the guy but he already despised him, if Crystal was into him then he was clearly just another jackass who would hurt her. A small, rational part of his mind told him he was being unfair and biased but dammit, he didn't care. He hated the place they were living before he even stepped foot inside it, it looked a wreck and reminded him of the Shrieking Shack. Unlike Varanian's hideout, the interior didn't miraculously improve and was just as much of a dump inside.

His siblings flocked to see him and he almost felt happy, until he noticed the absence of two of Ivy's fingers and was reminded of the bad things that had happened. She'd been whole the last time he'd seen her, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness for her. And Crystal thought John had saved her? Did she not see the missing fingers? John had clearly failed spectacularly. Bertie was clingy as if afraid he'd be taken if he left the sight of his family, Flynn was admittedly alright and Agnes was proudly carrying her wand to show him the spells John had taught her. He was upset rather than pleased she was a witch, he just wanted his siblings to be safe and happy not caught up in the Shadow War.

He knew being a muggle didn't guarantee safety but he still felt it was safer, if they were muggles then Cassia and Antonius wouldn't be so involved after all which was safer for them. What was John even thinking anyway? Even as a witch, Agnes was two years away from starting Hogwarts, too young to get a wand and learn spells. There was no way Crystal should be taking parenting advice from John Avery, he wasn't a father and the child he'd raised had died so clearly his parenting skills sucked. Well maybe that was a little harsh but still, the guy was a former Death Eater and had done time in Azkaban for his crimes. She shouldn't be trusting a criminal to be alone with her, let alone with her kids.

He didn't like John himself either, he wasn't exactly friendly although he wasn't outwardly mean either. He was really quite stoic, rarely smiling although he was good at pretending to be nice which was why the little ones seemed to adore him. Sure, he spent time with them and listened to them, read them bedtime stories but he also made them do chores and homeschooled them. Clearly he was just trying to control them and set them up so they could do all the work for him while he lazed around, he already kept feigning illness or pain from his supposed Festering Curse. He had Crystal helping with the housework too, cooking when he was too lazy too and she was just so grateful for his 'saving' Ivy to see it. It was only a matter of time before he started abusing her, Michael knew it. He was just like Bob, offering them a roof over their head so they'd feel they had to stay when he got violent and abusive.

"You ready to go back to Hogwarts tomorrow?" Crystal asked of him gently as he sat on the edge of his bed the night before he was due to go back.

"No," Michael admitted, he had packed his things but he didn't want to go back when they were staying with John.

"Really? That's not like you, sweetheart, you're usually so prepared," Crystal commented in surprise, "Well no worry, I can help you pack."

"I have packed," Michael corrected and his mother looked at him oddly, "I'm just not ready."

"What's wrong?"

"John is what's wrong, who can I leave when I know you're staying with a monster?"

"What? John is a good man," Crystal protested defensively.

"He's just taking advantage of you!" Michael burst out incredulously as he jumped to his feet, "He used to be a Death Eater, people like us are scum to him! Why do you think he's helping you?! It's not out of the goodness of his heart! He's just using you, he's controlling and he's already making you and the little ones do things for him, it's only a matter of time before he starts beating you like Bob! You have to leave him before he gets violent."

"John is _nothing_ like Bob!"

"Yes he is! Everyone you date-"

"I'm not dating John!" Crystal insisted.

"-winds up being a psycho who hurts us!" Michael yelled at her and felt tears prick his eyes, "Robin tried to kill us, Jack turned into some kind of murderous shadow creature and Bob beat the crap out of us for years. I don't want to see you get hurt again, I don't want our family to go through that again and I _can't_ do this again."

"Michael, I know things have been bad in the past but John is one of the good guys," Crystal told him gently.

"NO! No, he's not!" Michael protested, "He's bad and he's going to hurt you just like all the others! You have terrible judgement about men- you have terrible judgement! It made my childhood hell and it will do the same for the little ones if you don't leave John before he hurts them like Bob hurt me!"

"John is not Bob," Crystal insisted yet again, more timidly though, "I'm not leaving him, we're in a stable place here and besides, he needs us because he's dying and until we find the cure he'll just sicker."

"I know he's not Bob but he may as well be! Maybe you just don't notice because you were always at work or pushing out babies while _I_ was standing protectively in front of you taking the beatings for you and taking care of the little-"

"I know what Bob did to you, Michael," Crystal interrupted, blinking back her own tears, "You don't think it kills me inside that I couldn't protect my own son? I couldn't even protect myself. I remember, I was there and not a day goes by when I don't think of him and what he did to us, I still feel afraid, he's dead and I still hear his voice in my mind telling me how worthless I am. I'm scared of going through that again too and the last thing I want is for any of my children to be hurt anymore but John is not like that, he has done nothing but be supportive and if that ever changes then I like to think I'll have the courage to not make the same mistakes again. But right now he's not and things are about as good as they get for our family, we're better off working together right now. If you gave him a chance then maybe you'd see he's not so bad, for crying out loud he's dying because he risked his life to save a stranger's child."

Crystal said the last with a note of finality that the argument was over, Michael sat back down on the edge of his bed. He hung his head and only looked back up when he heard her footsteps stop, he glanced and saw she had paused in the doorway to turn back to him with the tear-filled hazel eyes they shared.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a good childhood, you deserved better," Crystal added before leaving.

Michael sat there in silence for a minute before letting his head fall into his hands, his anger draining away. Where had that even come from? He wished he could have a drink. Sometimes he thought he was far more screwed up in the head then he realized. He raised his head and wiped his eyes, he sighed. He figured he should go apologize to Crystal, he'd gone too far even if he still had his fears and doubts about John. He crept down the corridor, past the rooms containing his sleeping siblings and down the stairs but paused when he heard voices. Crystal was sitting on the counter with a mug of something, wiping her red eyes while John was drying dishes and apparently listening to her.

"Well it's understandable he's upset," John was saying, "I'll be dead within six months anyway, come summer he'll probably be calmer. He's just being protective because he cares, he seems like a good kid when he's not going nuts at the thought of us dating. Like that would ever happen."

"We'll find a cure," Crystal insisted while John just shrugged disinterestedly, she watched him silently for a second as he continued on with the dishes.

"What?" John questioned when he seemed to notice the silent pause, she swallowed and shifted awkwardly as he glanced at her.

"D-Do you ever think about it? Us dating," Crystal stammered out, looking somehow hopeful and completely petrified at the same time. John stopped to look at her completely, shifting and shrugging uncomfortably, "Maybe if I wasn't so damaged I would kiss you."

"Maybe if I wasn't so damaged I would kiss you back," John countered quietly.

"And then we'd be happy."

"Too bad we're both too damaged," John commented seriously and finished up the last of the dishes, throwing down the washcloth as he walked out, "Goodnight, Crystal."

"Goodnight," Crystal offered as she continued to sit there and sipped her drink solemnly, Michael crept back upstairs.

* * *

**Part 2: **Family and Friends

* * *

_"S-So now what?" Pyrrhus stammered out fearfully when Xerxes had brought them back to his quarters in the Training Tower, his bag still slung over his shoulder._

_Xerxes sat down at his desk and surveyed his poor brother standing there, looking very timid and afraid. He sighed to himself and rested his head on his hand, it was a good question. What was Xerxes supposed to do with him? He'd saved him in a spur of the moment decision but hadn't really thought to what would happen after the fact. Did he just let Pyrrhus live with him? He cringed inwardly at the thought, he didn't really want to be responsible for the thirteen year old let alone one damaged by years of abuse._

_"Just relax," Xerxes offered gently and Pyrrhus nervously sat down, his violet eyes continuing to flicker with fear, "I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now, Pyrrhus, I promise you. Your dad and your brother are never going to hurt you again."_

_"Thank you," Pyrrhus said quietly, still looking uncertain but maybe the slightest bit more at ease._

_Not that that helped Xerxes figure out what to do, he didn't really want the boy but he couldn't just take him back either. He didn't want his brother to be abused like that although really it was quite shameful a wizard had allowed himself to be taken advantage of by muggles, even if they hadn't been allowed to learn magic. Pyrrhus really did need to learn magic, Xerxes didn't have time to teach him but he was in a school. He smiled inwardly to himself, how had he not thought of that before? He could just sign Pyrrhus up to be Soul Eater._

_"So Pyrrhus, how would you like to learn magic?" Xerxes inquired and his brother's face lit up excitedly._

* * *

"So _this _is our final sibling," Stephan Hunter commented almost to himself as he peered at the little bundle with a grin.

Viola Kalya sighed irritably, she didn't give a damn about a baby, she cared about avenging her father. Stephan disagreed though and they were in the Training Tower to see the ugly wrinkled little sack of flesh, it was sleeping in its mother's arms. The mother looked around Carver's age, her scarred face marking her as a muggle slave and marring any beauty she'd once had. She was smiling lovingly at the baby though, stupid slut.

"You've seen the baby, now can you please track down our father's murderer?!" Viola complained at him irritably but he hushed her, she rolled her eyes.

"What's his name?" Stephan asked of the mother.

"I called him Decimus because he's Xerxie's tenth child," the slave told him, Viola glared at the girl. Had she seriously just called their father '_Xerxie_'?!

"That name actually doesn't suck," Stephan commented sounding somewhat surprised, "He can keep that name."

"Thank you, Master."

"But you can't keep him," Stephan added as he snatched the newborn away from her, the slave's expression turned to one of horror.

"Pl-Please, Master! H-He's my son, he's a-all I have!" the slave sobbed and the baby started to try as well.

"He's not your son anymore, he's my brother," Stephan told her coldly and without remorse, "You're just a worthless muggle slave, unworthy to care for a magical child."

On that note, Stephan turned on his heel and walked out with the screaming baby. Viola scrambled after him, glaring at her brother instead. He'd waste time on his kid but on avenging their father, why was she the only one who cared about this?!

"Was that really necessary?" Viola complained of him, "You're really going to waste your time raising a baby but you won't track down Florian?!"

"Please," Stephan scoffed, "I don't have time to raise a baby myself and revenge is still not a priority. I'm just here to make sure all is right with Father's assortment of children and get back to destroying Lebanon, once we capture that I really have my chance to shine."

"Then why not track down Florian before Lebanon is completely under our control?!"

"You realize there is people tracking him right now?"

"Well they're clearly failing and useless and you could do better!" Viola snapped at him in frustration as they stopped outside Ethan's door, "Why are you talking to the lunatic? Are you going to interrogate him about Martha possibly being a traitor?"

"He's too fragile, if I tried anything he'd snap like a twig and we'd never get anything out of him," Stephan said dismissively with a shake of his head as he tapped his wand against the door to unlock it before entering, finding Ethan sitting staring out the window, "Hello, dear brother."

"Go away, Stephan," Ethan insisted immediately and hugged his knees to his chest, his mouth setting angrily while his eyes filled with tears, "I hate you."

"I don't see why, I've done nothing but be a good brother to you."

"You imperised me to force me to complete the test!" Ethan protested in a sob as the tears spilled from his eyes.

"And?" Stephan questioned, "You should be thanking me, you got to complete the test without ever having to get your own precious hands dirty. And really, if you weren't so mentally fragile then you would've been able to resist better."

"I don't want to be a Soul Eater."

"Well you are so tough," Stephan shrugged and approached his brother, shoving Decimus into his arms, "Here, that's Decimus, the last and youngest of the many children of Xerxes Seneca."

"You brought him here to show him to me?" Ethan wondered in confusion, probably surprised Stephan cared.

"No, I brought him here so you can raise him. He's your responsibility now."

"What?! Stephan, I can't raise a child!" Ethan protested but Stephan was already leaving, he scrambled after them but Stephan slammed the door and quickly locked it, "Stephan! Stephan!"

"And that takes care of that," Stephan stated as he rubbed his hands together and started off again.

"You really think it's wise to leave a suicidal lunatic with the newborn infant?" Viola inquired, stumped at his logic.

"Ethan either has to man up and take care of Decimus or he's responsible for his brother's death, he'll do it and if not… eh, it's one less brat I'm responsible for," Stephan explained disinterestedly, "Honestly, it's like Father never heard of contraception, abortion or murder."

"You'd kill the baby? That's a bit dark even for you."

"No, I'd kill the pregnant girl," Stephan insisted defensively which Viola thought was fair enough, served her right for getting pregnant, "I'm not a monster."

"Please can you just _find_ Florian," Viola pleaded desperately, "I can kill him and Oathan myself, I just need you to help me find him."

"Viola, there's no way in hell you could kill Pyrrhus. Heck, even Oathan could probably beat you. And Brutus wants Oathan alive so stay away from him anyway."

"I could take them!" Viola protested angrily, feeling her face going red, "I've been trained!"

"Trained?" Stephan scoffed and smirked at her cruelly, "You were so spoiled by Dad that you missed out on half the training, the only reason you passed the test is that he all but rigged it so that even an idiot could win."

"You take that back, Stephan!" Viola screamed at him as she jumped in front of him, aiming her wand at him.

"No, I won't," Stephan decided casually as he folded his arms, "You allowed yourself to be bested by a deaf child."

"Maurice is a talented duelist-"

"Maurice is _deaf_. He's missing an entire sense, he's not even partially deaf but utterly and completely incapable of hearing. He's at a severe disadvantage and you still managed to lose to him."

"He's been trained," Viola insisted defensively.

"Trained better then you," Stephan taunted, "And even if we ignore that, a freaking _six year old_ managed to break free of your Imperius Curse. A small child is mentally stronger then you."

"Cassia was seven! And it's hard controlling more than one person at once!"

"Elite Soul Eaters are supposed to be able to do things that are hard!" Stephan yelled at her, his expression turning abruptly dark and Viola felt her wand flying out of her hand before she could react, "And you can't, Viola, you just can't. Pyrrhus may be mad and a traitor but he is still a perfectly capable duelist and talented wizard, you can never underestimate your enemy."

"Well maybe you shouldn't underestimate your sister either," Viola stated as she picked her wand back up.

"I just disarmed you without even trying, stop overestimating your own ability," Stephan pointed out before starting moving again, Viola once again hurrying after him.

"Where are you even going?!"

"To talk to Davin about Martha's potential betrayal, now he's someone who I can interrogate without driving him insane."

"You think that's more important than revenge?!" Viola complained irritably but Stephan just rolled his eyes at her, "And why not talk to Andreas? He's closer to her in age."

"But not closer to her, plus he was Christmasing with his mother and isn't back until tomorrow," Stephan answered readily, much to her surprise.

"How do you know these things?"

"Because I make it my business to know things about my siblings, especially as I'm head of the family now and they're my responsibility. Sometimes it's useful to know seemingly useless crap like that."

"Please, can we go after Florian?" Viola whined once more, "I'll prove to you I'm good enough."

Stephan just shook his head and continued onwards, Viola stamped her foot in frustration but she stuck by him determinedly. He was her ticket to revenge, she just needed him to actually do it. A slave was walking by with a stack of dishes presumably taken them to be cleaned, Stephan flicked his wand subtly and the man was sent spiraling to the ground while his cargo went flying. Stephan smirked and kicked the slave back down when they tried to rise.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?!" Stephan snapped at the slave angrily, the man cowering fearfully, "Do you think its funny slacking on your job?! Why did you break those dishes?! Can't you even do the simplest of tasks correctly you worthless piece of human garbag- No, you know what I think even garbage could do a better job than you!"

"I-I'm sorry, Master," the slave apologized and flinched as Stephan raised his wand, "It was an accident, I swear, I'd never deliberately do anything to the dishes."

"_Cruci_-" Stephan started to say and the man yelped in terror, tears bubbling from his eyes at a spell he was clearly aware of, "You know what? I'll take pity on you, just don't do it again or you will regret it."

"Th-Thank you, thank you so much, Master," the slave sobbed pathetically and Stephan went to walk on by, Viola kicked the slave in the head in passing to vent her anger and spat on him because he _was_ pathetic.

"Why did you do that?"

"Why did _you_ do that?" Viola countered.

"It's fun screwing with slaves and when I saw him again, I have an excuse to be really pissed," Stephan shrugged as if it was obvious, "Oh Davin, there you are. Just the brother I was looking to see."

Viola glanced up and saw that sure enough, one of her other siblings was walking by. Davin, the scrawny seven year old with a head of tangled dirty blond hair and violently violet eyes which reminded her sadly of her father. He was with another boy of similar age who was also blond, his eyes were all cloudy though as if he were blind. Davin smiled when he saw them and went to hug Stephan, who actually allowed it.

"Come on, I need to talk to you about something in private," Stephan told their brother seriously.

"I'll be back in a minute, Cyrus," Davin assured the other boy who Viola realized was definitely blind from the way he looked in Davin's direction instead of at Davin.

Cyrus – at least Viola assumed that was his name – did nod though before Stephan pulled the younger boy into the closest empty room and closed the door, she eyed the boy and folded her arms. She was quite distrustful of people with disabilities after Maurice and she didn't care what Stephan said, deaf or not he _was_ a threat. Who was underestimating the enemy now? Actually, maybe it was just the disability but Cyrus did remind her of Maurice a little bit. She jumped in surprise as she heard a child's scream coming from the room Stephan had just pulled Davin into, Cyrus jumped too.

"Davin!" Cyrus cried and before she could stop him, the blind boy bolted for the door.

He scrambled for the handle and she moved to grab him but he'd already opened it, he burst in before she could reach him with a wand drawn even if it was aimed in the wrong direction. Stephan had sat Davin down on a chair and seemed to have been doing Legilimency on him since he had no wand, he was just leaning over him and cupping his chin to force him to look into his eyes.

"L-Leave my friend alone," Cyrus insisted, trying to sound brave and Stephan smirked.

"I guess we can add 'bested by a blind boy' to the list of things you fail to overcome," Stephan taunted and Viola's face went scarlet once more.

Cyrus turned his wand to Stephan, seemingly trying to aim it where the voice had come from. He was within arm's length of Stephan though, he let go of Davin who hung his head breathing heavily and easily snatched Cyrus' wand from him. He threw it randomly and struck the child forcefully with the back of his hand, sending Cyrus staggering off his feet. Seizing her chance to try save some face, Viola put her foot on his head and aimed her wand at his head. Why did he remind her of Maurice and his freak brother?!

"Stay down!" Viola barked at the blind boy who quivered fearfully.

"Very necessary," Stephan quipped sarcastically but turned back to Davin, grabbing his face again, "Now where were we?"

"Stephan, please," Davin begged but was ignored as Stephan met his eyes, they immediately filled with tears and he tried to pull away but Stephan held his scarred face firm. Davin screamed as the tears poured down his face, Viola forced down the sliver of pity she felt, "Please! It hurts! Stop, it hurts! STEPHAN!"

"Is that really necessary?" Viola questioned as Stephan let Davin go, the younger boy breathing heavily as he fell off his chair and started sobbing.

"Legilimency is a very useful tool, children's minds are pretty weak," Stephan shrugged dismissively as he strode back over to her, "Seriously, how could you let a six year old break free of your control?"

"Cassia was seven!" Viola insisted defensively, "And you don't need to cause pain with Legilimency, Dad never had to."

"I'm not Dad, I like to play rough."

"Even with your own brother?"

"Davin is doubtful of our cause, he deserves it," Stephan stated darkly as he waved his hand, summoning Cyrus' wand back to it, "He doesn't know about Martha but he does know something else useful."

"What?" Viola wondered curiously and Stephan jerked his head downwards as he kicked Cyrus, causing the boy to cry out in pain.

"Blindy here speaks fluent Arabic, English and Greek. A translator is very useful to me so he just earned himself a job," Stephan explained as he reached down to help Cyrus up, shoving the wand back into his hand, "And you got a job too, I'm letting you join the English group which gives you the chance to be part of the hunt for Pyrrhus."

"Really?" Viola inquired hopefully, it wasn't Stephan's involvement but she'd still rather he there and out searching herself then taking over whatever stupid country they cared about next.

"Really," Stephan confirmed, "Take Davin to the Hospital Wing and they'll be ready by the time you leave. Just keep an eye on Carver."

"Okay."

* * *

_"X-Xerxes?" Pyrrhus stammered out and Xerxes looked up from his desk, seeing his frightful brother poking his head in the doorway, "C-Can I talk to you?"_

_"Go on," Xerxes agreed and gestured for the boy to come in, he was now dressed in the robes of the others in training. As he approached he noticed Pyrrhus' eyes were red as if he'd been crying and had fresh wounds on his hands from the blood quills, well it wasn't like he could have them go easy on everyone especially since Pyrrhus had so much to catch up on, "How was your first day?"_

_"Terrible!" Pyrrhus burst out and pulled up his sleeves to show where the wounds continued up his arm, "Look, they make you write with a quill that cuts you with the words you write and if you complain they hit you with a spell that causes you absolute agony."_

_"That's what the curriculum is like here, I'm afraid," Xerxes pointed out and his brother's eyes bulged in shock._

_"But it's horrible! It's cruel, it hurts-"_

_"Pyrrhus, do you want to go back to your father?" Xerxes questioned and Pyrrhus looked petrified as he slowly shook his head, beads of sweat forming on his brow, "Then you'll just have to live and learn how wizards do."_

_"You promised you'd keep me safe," Pyrrhus protested as fresh tears filled his eyes._

_"You are safe. From your father," Xerxes pointed out quite truthfully, "Now I'd get to practicing if I were you, you're way behind."_

_Pyrrhus turned away from him in defeat, leaving with his head hung and his shoulder shaking as he cried. Xerxes rolled his eyes, such an ungrateful boy. Even with the blood quills, Pyrrhus should be thanking him after he'd saved him and given him a chance to become a Soul Eater. If he couldn't handle it then clearly he didn't deserve his second chance. That sounded about right, the things Xerxes did because he was such a generous person. _

* * *

Scorpius was taken to the platform unusually by his grandmother this time, his mother wanting to stay home with the bedridden Lysel and his father staying to help with Sol. They also arrived spectacularly early where barely anyone was there, his grandmother seemed even less enthusiastic about Lysel staying with them then his father was.

"You know, I remember when it was just me taking your father to the platform when he was your age," his grandmother told him with a wistful sigh, "Lucius was in Azkaban at that point so it was just the two of us. How the times have changed, huh?"

"I guess," Scorpius shrugged since he had no way of knowing since he hadn't been born, biting back the urge to ask if she'd taken him there so early as well.

She seemed quite content to chat away with him about his father's youthful days while they waited, when he was Scorpius' age he'd become a Death Eater already and was trying to kill the famous Albus Dumbledore. Scorpius caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the train, his hair was longer and messier, the scar obviously new and his father would never have worn his awesome leather jacket but he still did bear a strong resemblance to his father. And Scorpius realized he was actually ashamed of that.

"Hey Scor," Albus greeted him with a clap on the back as he came over with Vern and Lily, much to Scorpius' immense relief as it gave him a welcome distraction and he had missed his friend, "How was your break?"

Scorpius launched into an explanation of his stay with Michael even if he left out things he didn't risk repeating within earshot of his grandmother, Albus also recounting his own break along with Lily and Vern. Both of which abandoned them to greet their respective dates when they arrived, Orous and Olivia. He expected Maurice to come over to say hello but he seemed content to have a hand signing conversation with Cade for the time being. Rose joined them after a while when her grandparents dropped her and her brother off, her own Christmas much more negatively impacted by her father's treachery then even Albus'. Albus seemed rather distracted though, only when Abby showed up he realized why.

"Abby! Hey! Hey! Abby!" Albus burst out and practically ran over to her waving both his arms like a lunatic, he pulled her into a hug, "Are you alright? I'm sorry your break was so terrible, didn't I tell you that it would be terrible? But its okay now, your friends are here."

"What are you talking about?" Abby wondered as she pulled away before smiling, "I had a great holiday, it was really lovely with Sequoia and his sisters are so nice, they made me feel really welcome."

"Oh," Albus muttered, looking actually disheartened she'd had a good time and even more so when Sequoia came over and put his arm around her, giving her a peck on the cheek in greeting.

"Trunks are loaded," Sequoia offered before smiling at them, "Hey guys, how was your break?"

"Terrible! My uncle is my Dad's oldest friend and be betrayed him to the Shadows not that you'd care to ask how my break was!" Albus snapped angrily and folded his arms in a huff, Sequoia looked slightly confused.

"Al, he_ did_ ask how your break was," Rose pointed out in a whisper that turned his face scarlet.

"Well I'm really sorry to hear that," Sequoia offered sympathetically, "That must be rough."

"Obviously," Albus scoffed.

"Why don't we make sure the prefect compartment is ready?" Abby said to Sequoia, clearly uncomfortable with the increasingly awkward conversation and started to lead her boyfriend away, "Talk to you guys later."

"I _hate_ that guy."

"Who? John Avery?" Michael questioned as he joined them, looking quite angry, "Yeah, that guy sucks."

"Well no but-"

"He's taking advantage of Crystal. By the time I go back for Easter, my family will be his punching bags just you see!" Michael interjected, sounding upset, "I warned her, you know. I warned her. And she went and told him!"

"How awful," Rose offered dismissively before turning back to her cousin, "See, Al? I _told_ you that Abby would be fine."

"She's not fine, she's crying inside," Albus muttered bitterly.

"Corin!" Rose exclaimed and moved past them to go hug her boyfriend as he arrived.

"I'm so sorry about your Dad, Rosie," Corin said, sounding sincere as he hugged her tight and Albus looked on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius prodded.

"Why does everyone rush to greet their boyfriends when they show up?" Albus asked of him, his voice catching slightly as he gestured to where Grozda was chatting with some girls her own age, "When I saw her all she did was wave, when I tried to talk to her she said later because she was looking for her friends and now she's talking to her friends. Why don't I matter to her as much as everyone else matters to the people their dating?"

"I don't know, Albus," Michael admitted and patted him on the back comfortingly, "Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"No. I don't want to rock the boat and be knocked overboard so I die alone," Albus protested and sighed sadly, "Sometimes, I just feel like I'm the only one in the boat."

* * *

**Part 3: **Missing

* * *

Scorpius bade goodbye to his grandmother and got a compartment with Albus, Rose, Corin, Orous and Lily as his other friends were called to the Prefect compartment to fulfil their duties. It was a pleasant enough train journey for the most part, Orous and Corin had had better breaks and then Albus, Lily and Rose could talk about Ron's betrayal to fill them in. Albus did seem preoccupied with complaining about Sequoia as well. He got a carriage with Michael and Maurice, the latter of whom naturally just wanted to talk war. He thought Lebanon was almost done for and had plans to put Martha under the same kind of protection he had for the Scamander twins, the assassin after the three of them could very try again after all.

They got to the Great Hall and dug into the delightful feast, it was in his customary survey of the staff table that he noticed something odd. Antonius and Cassia always sat with Professor Ashain at the staff table, Antonius wasn't there though and the other Ashains didn't look very happy with Hope the dog lying at their feet. Was Antonius ill or something? But then why wouldn't they be with him… Or no, had Antonius chosen to stay with his mother? Was he living with Skye now? Scorpius found himself rather sad to think that although he supposed maybe Antonius was better off, Hogwarts was hardly the sanctuary of safety that it once was. He made a mental note to ask her about it when he had the chance, they did have the weekend before classes began again so there was plenty of time.

"Hey Grozzie!" Albus called out as he spotted his girlfriend as they were on the way to breakfast the next day, the Slytherin smiled widely as she approached and kissed him which made Albus look slightly more relieved but he held her hand regardless, "How are you?"

"Great," Grozda offered brightly while Scorpius looked for a break in the crowd to leave but found none, she ran her fingers through Albus' hair, "Thank you so much for all of my presents by the vay, you are so sweet to be so generous."

"Well I love you, of course I'm going to shower you with gifts," Albus assured her with a nervous grin, giving a slight pause as if for her to give her a chance to say she loved him too. She didn't, "I liked that shirt you got me, it was very nice and I love how loose it is being a size too big."

"I'm glad you like it, I thought the emerald color really vent vell vith your eyes. Do you vant to meet up later? Ve still have all veekend and I can spare some of my team training time for you."

"Great!" Albus burst out excitedly, seemingly pleased his girlfriend wanted to spend time with him but immediately looked panicked as if afraid of being too eager, "I mean, sure I could probably move some stuff around, that-that'd be cool."

"Good," Grozda offered a smile and made to leave.

"I love you."

"I think you're really great too," Grozda assured him and made to leave but Albus grabbed her arm back, looking anxious.

"Don't-Don't you love me too?"

"I know, you've said. I think you're good too," Grozda reiterated looking slightly annoyed, "Now come on, I am hungry. Are you not?"

"That's not love though?" Albus wondered as the beads of sweat brewed on his brow.

"Albus, ve are young and I really like you a lot but love?" Grozda said seriously, "Sometimes I feel like you are vay more serious about this relationship then I am."

"What do you mean? This is a serious relationship, we've been together over a year and I-I hope for us to be together for many more years."

"Vat? I graduate this year and you don't, you realize that is the end of us, right?" Grozda questioned, Albus' expression of shock and horror indicated the contrary.

"B-But w-we ca-can do long distance, we can still see each other at Hogs-"

"Long distance never vorks and who vould vant that anyway?" Grozda interrupted and asked him, looking off put at the thought, "Never seeing each other, talking vith letters. I'm going to playing Quidditch professionally, moving forward vith my life, I don't vant to be tied down to someone I can never see."

"I only have a year extra!" Albus protested, his voice cracking as his eyes filled with tears.

"A year is a long time to be alone, Albus. If I'm still single ven you graduate then maybe but if not this will end ven my Hogwarts education does," Grozda told him quietly, "Or if you can't handle that then maybe ve should just break up now."

"D-Doesn't it matter that I love you?" Albus choked out, desperately trying not to cry.

"Goodbye, Albus," Grozda said finally as she turned and left, leaving Albus looking like he'd taken a punch to the gut.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Michael offered gently and patted his friend on the back as the Potter gaped after her with eyes glossy from tears.

"What's happening?" Maurice asked curiously as he, the Scamanders and Corin paused by them on their own way to breakfast. Albus opened his mouth to speak but instead burst into tears and ran back the way they'd come, "Was it something I said? Did the wrong words come out of my mouth or something?"

"Grozda broke up with him," Scorpius informed him and Maurice nodded in understanding.

"Relationships always end badly, haven't I said that?"

"Repeatedly," Corin assured him.

"Well I better go make sure he's alright, the rest of you carry on," Michael offered and gestured for them to go on while he trudged away after Albus, Scorpius felt bad for his friend but if that was Grozda's attitude then he probably was better off.

The rest of them continued on to breakfast, Scorpius glanced at the staff table and yet again noted Antonius' absence. Maybe he had chosen to stay with Skye, Professor Ashain seemed to be taking it pretty hard as he looked like sleep had abandoned him completely if the heavy bags beneath bloodshot eyes were anything to go by. Wanting to find out, he deliberately hung around in the corridor outside the Great Hall to speak to Cassia when she exited.

"Hey Cassia," Scorpius' greeted the small girl with a smile that she only half returned, her serious expression reminding him very much of her father, "Didn't have a good break?"

"Haven't you heard?" Cassia wondered and he scowled in confusion, what would be upsetting her? Another country being attacked wasn't new, she barely knew Ron or Leebin to be upset about the former's betrayal and the latter's abduction.

"Heard what?"

"Come on, I'll tell you in private," Cassia offered and led him into an unused classroom nearby before turning back to him, Hope plodding along after, "Do you remember how Antonius was going to stay with Skye over the holidays?"

"Yes."

"Well she done fucked up again," Cassia spat darkly and the window nearest exploded into a shower of glass, "Antonius was kidnapped when she was supposed to be protecting him."

"K-K-Kidnapped?" Scorpius stammered out and staggered back as the news hit him like a troll's club.

Cassia only nodded in confirmation while he felt his legs shaking, she started speaking again but he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything, he couldn't believe this. Antonius had been taken, he was ten years old. Just like Scorpius had been. He felt like he was going to be sick, he'd feared Antonius being taken before but that had just been paranoia or so he'd thought anyway. But no, he'd been taken and now he was handcuffed to a bed in some old attic with a new set of muggles to abuse him at their leisure.

Forget feeling like he was going to be sick, Scorpius _was_ actually going to be sick. He tried to move to head to the nearest bathroom but had no time, instead he just gripped the wall as he hurled and lost the breakfast he'd just eaten.

"Are you okay?" Cassia asked him gently and worriedly as she wandered over and patted his arm.

"I just have to go," Scorpius told her shakily as he wiped his arm on his sleeve and staggered off, still tasting the bile in his mouth.

He headed back to his dormitory, wanting to just lie down or cry or die. He couldn't believe Antonius had been taken, he'd been having a nice vacation while his young, defenseless friend was being abducted. He should have protected him, why didn't he didn't he protect him? Why didn't anyone protect him? He reached his dormitory where Albus was hugging an ugly looking green shirt, his face stained by snot and tears while Michael sat on his own bed. Their other roommates weren't there, Scorpius closed the door behind him and leaned back against it. He blinked back tears as he looked at the beds, he wondered what bed Antonius was shackled to right now...

* * *

Antonius sighed heavily as he watched the world flying by through the window of the car, fields and trees and buildings all just blurring into a speeding mess. It was two weeks since he'd been taken and he still had no idea why or what they wanted, all they'd done was move around constantly. He was beginning to doubt there even had been a reason to take him, his captors seemed far from sane. Florian it seemed had worsened since his Hogwarts days and had developed a habit of talking to people who weren't there, he'd also had a mental breakdown and killed a bunch of people as well as burning down a motel. Then there was Jack or One who not only talked to himself but talked back, they also had a terrifying habit of killing people just by holding out their hand. And then there was Oathan, probably the sanest and safest of his captors but he was also only four as of last week.

"I like this," Oathan commented cheerfully, they were both in the back seat on either side looking out of the windows, "I like to see all of the things speed by."

"Whatever makes you happy," Antonius said disinterestedly, his uncle was dead, his own mother had betrayed him and he was prisoner to some crazy people. It would more than a pleasant drive to improve his mood.

"Okay, we're here," Florian announced in a sing-song voice as he pulled the car to a halt.

Antonius sighed once more as he was forced to wait while the adults got out of the car, it seemed they were at a farmhouse that looked abandoned now. Not that it mattered, they'd probably be gone by the time the weekend was over. The doors were locked behind them so Antonius couldn't get out – he had tried in the past – while his captors went around putting up protective enchantments.

"Do you want some chocolate?" Oathan offered kindly with a smile.

"No," Antonius insisted for what felt like the thousandth time, Oathan was forever offering him things which was really quite tedious.

He wondered if this was what it was like for his friends, did they find him as out of touch as he did Oathan? They had the same age gap after all and never seemed to want to spend time with him because they were busy with their lives, just like he didn't want to be around Oathan despite thinking the boy was nice enough. He wondered if he was ever going to see them again, or his family or his home. And by that he meant Hogwarts, the house Skye lived in wasn't home anymore. He felt a fool for ever thinking his mother could love him and that bitter hurt gnawed away at his heart still.

"Are you sure? I can make it go biggerer with my wand, Daddy teached me a spells," Oathan offered again and Antonius glanced back to him, he'd forgotten the boy had a wand along with a knife on his belt that Florian was teaching him to use. Would it be possible to get the wand off him? If he could get a wand then he had a chance of escaping or maybe at least getting a message out, "Then there is more."

"Okay," Antonius agreed and forced a smile, Oathan's face lit up delightedly.

"I'm so glad!"

Oathan happily drew his wand and Antonius lunged for the smaller boy, using his superior size and strength to tear the wand from his small scarred hands. Oathan looked at him with hurt-filled eyes welling with tears, Antonius did feel somewhat guilty but he had to get away. He slashed his wand at the belt they always magically sealed.

"_Diffindo_," Antonius cast and successfully severed the belt to free himself, he then aimed it at the door, "_Alohomora_."

To his great relief, the door did actually click open and he scrambled to get out while the adults were still distracted by the enchantments. He froze though as he felt something sharp pressing into the back of his neck.

"Give my wand back or I'll hurt you in the neck," Oathan told him, managing to sound innocent, firm and tearful all at once, "People stop living when you hurt them in the neck."

"Please, Oathan, I want to go home to my _own_ Dad and family," Antonius pleaded desperately, "You wouldn't like it if someone took you away from your dad, would you?"

"Give it back," Oathan insisted and Antonius sighed frustratedly as he tossed the wand back to Oathan, he felt the knife point leave him though and closed the door as he sat in annoyance back in his seat, "You should of not take things that aren't yours, it's not nice."

"It's not nice to take people from their families either but you don't mind your Daddy doing that."

"Daddy needs you to ended the war," Oathan told him seriously as Antonius' door was pulled open by Jack, ready to let him out.

"_What happened here?"_ One questioned suspiciously and gestured to the snapped belt.

"I thoughted should be able to move easierly," Oathan lied quietly, much to Antonius' surprise.

"_Well don't_," One growled at him irritably while yanking Antonius out of the car, Florian had gone over to open Oathan's door for him as well as to take in their things from the trunk. One pushed him in the direction of the farmhouse and Antonius trudged on, feeling as if he walked with chains even if he couldn't see any.

"Are you ever going to tell me what you want with me?" Antonius questioned as he was led inside and forced to sit at the table in the kitchen, it had wooden beams on the ceiling reminding him vaguely of a long forgotten holiday but also cobwebs.

"Never," Jack offered.

"You're both mad if you think I can actually help you end the war," Antonius insisted determinedly, "In case you haven't noticed the past two weeks you've been dragging me around, I'm _ten_. If I can't even escape you guys, how do you think I'm supposed to kill the Shadow Master?"

"Oh Antonius," Florian sighed as he threw down the bags and paced, scratching his chin and Antonius tried not to glare since he did want information, "What do you think, Oathy? Think it's time we told him."

"Yes," Oathan agreed with a nod and Florian slid into the seat opposite with a demented smile playing on his face.

"Alright, Antonius, I'll tell you," Florian offered and whipped out Antonius' wand, placing it on the table in front of him, "That's why."

"My wand?" Antonius wondered in confusion, "How does my wand help?"

"Because it's not just any wand, is it? Its Ashylos' wand, the one from the Scepter of Night," Florian stated and Antonius clamped his mouth shut, not sure how he knew but afraid to ask because that would confirm it. It was supposed to be a secret, "Do you know _why_ the Scepter likes the Shadow Master so much?"

"Because the Scepter belonged to Herpo and the Shadow Master is his descendant."

"Very good, in the past blood relation was important in wands and Scepters which is why they often passed them down through the family in generations," Florian nodded in agreement as he idly toyed with the wand, "But do you know what trumps the blood relation?"

"No," Antonius admitted truthfully, he didn't know anything about wandlore.

"Choice," Florian said seriously, "The wand chose _you_. Scepters tended to either be made as one giant wand or as separate wands joined into one entity like Herpo's Scepter, they can still be used as separate wands but overall they are bound. If one chooses you then the whole thing belongs to you. It's not Herpo's Scepter anymore, it's yours. The Shadow Master can try to Frankenstein a new Scepter together and it can work but it'll still be yours because it'll be connected to your wand until it's destroyed for real. And since it's yours, you and you alone will be able to summon it away from her."

"Her?" Antonius repeated in confusion.

"Shadow Master's a woman," Florian stated dismissively and Antonius' jaw dropped in surprise, how many years had people pondered the Shadow Master's identity and Florian just casually gave it up to him, "Her name is Salazia Riddle but she prefers Sal, she's Calderon's twin and she's also kind of your aunt since she's doing your Uncle Brutus. They have twin sons I hear, congratulations on your baby cousins."

"Wh-Bu-Yo-Jus-Wha"

"_Anyway_," Florian interjected, "As long as old Sally has the Scepter, she is like mega unstoppable and all-powerful. She's stopped using Polyjuice so not even her dear brother would be able to call the Scepter from her since they're on the same level now, if he can't do that then she could just crush him. So what we need to do is get it off her and if you can summon it away from her then we can destroy it, once that's gone she and Calderon can fight it out and kill each other like they almost did last year. No more Shadow Master, no more leadership, Brutus hasn't the heart to lead the charge and the spy hasn't the weight of power so they eventually crumble. Without Sal, they won't last and will be easier to take down. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? Don't you want the war to end?"

"I feel like there's a catch," Antonius wondered suspiciously, he also didn't want Calderon to die fighting his… apparently sister.

"Depends on your definition of catch," Florian shrugged, "The thing is, you see she's connected to five kids marked by their scarred wrists."

"Scorpius, Orous, Maurice, Lorcan and Lysander," Antonius recounted as something dawned on him, "You're the one trying to kill Scorpius and the Scamanders."

"Yes, you see Sal can potentially tap into their magic especially through Maurice since he alone has an unsealed connection since he refused when Calderon sealed the other four. With that, she's more powerful than Calderon and could crush him. Also, she's more powerful then you and could probably kill you before you got the Scepter off her. So before we go after her Scepter, the five must die unless there's another way to sever the connection, we must get Calderon to force him to fight from us and you need to be made more powerful."

"How do you expect to make me more powerful?" Antonius wondered in confusion, he was quite sure that was impossible.

"Well for starters we need to teach you _how_ to summon the Scepter and… and well…" Florian trailed off and sighed guiltily, "We need to add extra magic to your soul, that's why we have Jack/One over there."

"I feel like that will kill me."

"It will and your broken soul means Jack/One can't remove it either but you'll have long enough to get the Scepter, after you can go back to your family and enjoy the last few months of your life knowing you helped save the world," Florian offered and patted him on the hand comfortingly with a smile, "You care about that worthless crap, huh? So what do you think?"

"I think your nuts if you think that's ever going to work or that I would ever agree to it," Antonius scoffed as he yanked his hand away and folded his arms crossly, "You want to kill my _friends_, you murdered my_ uncle_. You and your plan can – as my sister would say – _fuck off_. If you really wanted to help then let me go home and sign up for Gray."

"And what's Gray's plan, huh?" Florian questioned but Antonius had no answer, "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

"And you care about the greater good?"

"No I care about my son," Florian admitted quite readily as he stood, taking Antonius' wand with him, "But _you _care about the greater good. Think about that, the right thing to do is rarely the easiest."

* * *

**Part 4: **New Year

* * *

"Scorpius, are you okay?" Michael asked of him in a tone of concern.

"A-At the start of th-the hol-holidays, An-Antonius w-was…" Scorpius started to say but trailed off, feeling he bile rising in his throat again and swallowed it back down. His final word came out in a whisper, "Kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Albus repeated in shock could and Scorpius only nod in reply without risking retching again, he shakily staggered over to his own bed and sat against one of the four posters with his knees hugged up to his chest, "Does Maurice know?"

Scorpius shook his head mutely, at least he assumed Maurice didn't know because he probably would've reeled off some soldier crap otherwise. He didn't really care though, Maurice wasn't a miracle worker and he wouldn't be able to save Antonius. He buried his head in his knees as the silent tears streamed from his eyes, haunting memories flashed on the insides of his eyelids overlaid with the knowledge that it was happening to his friend. He heard footsteps but they were too distant and un-Antonius related so he didn't care, he ignored vague voices saying his name until he felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. He flinched from the touch and finally forced himself to look at reality.

"_What?!"_ Scorpius tried to snap at Michael but due to his crying, it came out more of a forceful strangled croak.

"Talk to me," Michael offered as he sat on the bed beside him, "You're upset."

"OF COURSE I'M UPSET!" Scorpius screamed at him in frustration, "Antonius was taken, _they_ took him! How can I be not be when I know the hell he's going through?!"

"You're not thinking rationally," Michael insisted gently, "What would Leebin say? Didn't he say something to you about generalizing before?"

"Leebin's dead!" Scorpius spat and felt a pang of sadness at the thought, seemingly to Michael's surprise, "It's been almost two weeks, the Shadows have probably torn his soul to shreds already and fed it to their Specters. He can't help me anymore, he can't help anyone. He died alone, in pain, probably scared and just wanting to go to home to his family… Just like Antonius will, in fact he probably died shackled to a bed as well-"

"Scorpius!" Michael interrupted seriously, "There is _no_ logical reason to think that the same thing that happened to you will happen to Antonius! _None. At all._"

"There's every reason, he's the same age as I was! Don't you see that?! It's the Shadows again! They took him and handed him over like a lamb to a butcher!" Scorpius insisted in a sob, "Wh-Why do they even do that? Why do they have to destroy people's lives? Why can't they just leave them alone? Leave _us_ alone. What did anyone do to deserve to have these horrible things happen to them? Antonius is just a kid."

"I used to ask myself the same thing with Bob," Michael admitted quietly and met his eyes, "And you know what, Scorpius? There is no reason. There's no order, no plan, no destiny, no karma, there's no grand scheme in life. Life's just a bitch."

"That doesn't really help Antonius," Scorpius stated miserably and wiped at his still running eyes, trying to work up the courage to say his next words, "When they took me I woke up handcuffed to a bed because… I guess they felt like a small child needed extra precaution, it's not like adults have a strength or size advantage over children or anything. Bastards."

"Well they're dead now," Michael assured him, "They can't hurt anyone wherever they are, certainly not you or Antonius."

"They raped me, you know?" Scorpius admitted aloud for the first time and so quietly he was almost surprised Michael heard him, he shuddered at the memory and more tears escaped his eyes, "I was a child and they forced themselves on me."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't feel up to it," Michael offered in a soothing tone, "I get the picture."

"But I do," Scorpius insisted determinedly despite his tears, "When Orous begged me for help back in our First Year, I didn't help him or even believe him. I could lie and say deep down I really thought he didn't exist but I think I did, I just ignored him anyway because I didn't have the courage to face my past. Maybe if I had then I would've been able to save him, maybe we could've even saved Lorcan.

"I _still_ don't face my past, I refuse to think about it and just push it out of my mind because it hurts to think about it. I like to think that it doesn't affect me but it does, I know it does. I can't change the past, I can't go back in time and take my child self home from that park, I can't go force myself to listen to reason to save Orous and I can't save Lorcan either. But Antonius…" Scorpius trailed off, finding his voice coming out stronger now though, "There's still hope for him, I don't want him to go through that and I _won't_ let my own inability to face the past be the reason he suffers like it was for Orous."

"Well I'm proud of you for that," Michael offered and gave him an encouraging smile, "But I still don't think that's what's happening to Antonius."

"Why not? Isn't it obvious?"

"One: it's been a few years since the Shadow Master's bothered with that, with the Scepter I doubt being connected to people even matters anymore. Two: I know I don't really the guy but I don't think Brutus would allow this to happen to his own nephew and most importantly three," Michael recounted, ticking them off on his fingers as he spoke, "Varanian would know if the Shadows had taken him. If it's been two weeks and he hasn't mentioned it then he doesn't know and if it was the Shadows then he would know. Even if he didn't know where he was or why like with Leebin, he would know by now if they had captured Antonius."

"Well who else would it be?" Scorpius demanded, "He has a wand and he knows enough about how to use it that it's not like muggles could've taken him without the Shadows help. He's not a werewolf so any last pathetic fragment of PAW wouldn't have targeted him. Who else could it be?"

"Florian?"

"Why would Florian want Antonius?!"

"Why does Florian do _anything_?!" Michael countered and Scorpius was forced to incline his head in agreement, they still didn't know what in the world he was after, "Have you told Varanian yet?"

"No."

"Well get him on it," Michael commanded and Scorpius moved to do so before pausing, noticing Michael was still there. Despite everything they'd been through, despite how unfun it must be to sit through him crying pathetically. Michael was still there for him, still his best friend, still a good person. He pulled Michael into a hug, "What's that for?"

"Everything," Scorpius offered as he pulled away, he still needed to find a way to help Michael. When he was done saving Antonius, "Okay, I'll ring Varanian now."

* * *

_The first thing Carver ever remembered was eating a banana split or rather playing with it, waving the banana around and pretending it was a boat or possibly a dragon, or a winged creature of some sort – he didn't remember – but it was carrying its cargo or passengers which was the topping. He remembered laughing before his mum abruptly screamed at him to not play with his food – it was dripping everywhere – and vanished it which sent him crying. It wasn't the best start to a relationship with his mother._

_Carver felt she was always against him, he just wanted to eat and play or eat and play but she was never happy. She was always screaming at him for something, for leaving his toys in the way or making a mess or whatever. She was impatient too, if he didn't do something immediately she'd scream at him for not doing it or if he didn't know something or if he did something wrong. He didn't know why she couldn't just be nice to him, she never wanted to play with him or look at the pictures he drew – and if she did, she'd tell them they were terrible – or even hug him. She was at work most of the time and he was left with a babysitter who liked to sleep, Carver got ice cream if he didn't disturb her. He missed his mum when she was gone, didn't she miss him?_

_He got his answer that summer after using all her makeup to decorate the roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, he thought she would be happy that he made it pretty for her. She didn't think so, she yelled at him and yelled at him for wasting her precious makeup and their toilet paper, she didn't even like what he'd drawn. _

_"HOW COULD YOU BE SO INCONSIDERATE?! YOU KNOW I DON'T MAKE A LOT OF MONEY, CARVER!" his mum screamed at him, much to poor Carver's confusion. He didn't know that, he didn't even know what money was or even what inconsiderate meant. He just knew she was mad and it made him sad, "THAT IS IT! YOU CAN STAY WITH YOUR FATHER FOR AWHILE!"_

_And that was that, his dad came and took him away. His dad did pay more attention to him – when he wasn't being distracted by ladies – but he was also around less so Carver didn't feel as attached to him, he wanted his mummy. And he wanted her to want him too, why couldn't she just like him? Living with his dad might not actually have been so bad except he wasn't actually with his dad, he was in a school. He still didn't see his dad much and didn't see his mum at all, he didn't get to play anymore and instead was just expected to learn. His brother, Ethan, was in the same class as him though so he saw him more than either of his parents._

_It was a good thing too, Carver really started to get the impression his fellow classmates didn't like him. They threw him dark looks when he tried to talk about how fun writing was, nursing hands they seemed to have stupidly drawn on. Silly classmates, his mum had told him before that you shouldn't draw on your skin so he knew better. They didn't seem pleased when he pointed this out though. They also didn't seem pleased he got to take breaks from his classes to see his dad or that he was allowed to eat the staff's food at meals whereas they weren't, they seemed mad at him for the physical classes as well. Like if they were slow running, the teacher would zap them with their wand and they'd wriggle around screaming like a crazy person but if he was too slow – which was quite a lot, he was a big boy – then he was just told to run faster. If Carver didn't know any better than he'd think he was missing something._

_Carver didn't like it there, he still wanted to go home to his mum. He'd said as much to his dad but he insisted he was in the right place, although his dad had been more distracted than usual with Carver's new baby sister: Viola. Carver didn't see why, she couldn't play with him or even talk and all she seemed to do was cry and poop. He got to wear big boy underpants because he could go to the toilet all by his own, surely that made him better and more worthy of his dad's time then Viola? She was too stupid to even sit up. Why wouldn't his parents pay attention to him? All he had was Ethan and even he was pretty serious. Until Ethan's third birthday, then he got moved into the class for his year and Carver was left all alone._

* * *

Scorpius had a rough time of it in the weeks that followed, he was very much preoccupied with concerns about Antonius. This was especially unfortunate considering how he really needed to focus on his NEWTs, in his first week alone due to his distraction he was bitten by a Venomous Tentacula in Herbology, scratched by a Griffin in Care of Magical Creatures and chastised three times by Rojer for almost blowing himself up. It didn't help either that the first Professor Ashain also dedicated to make January safety month, ignoring the nonverbal spells they were practicing to instead focus on ways to defend yourself when you were being abducted, useful tips, spells to best deal with multiple attackers – in abductions when there was more than one after you – and also on preemptive safety, protective enchantments and the like.

He found his favorite class actually quite depressing, seeing Cassia sitting alone where her brother was once beside her and Professor Ashain. The man looked a frazzled wreck, he constantly looked disheveled and frequently wore the same outfit for days at a time as if he hadn't thought to change. The rings beneath his eyes seemed darker every lesson and by the end of the month, his eyes themselves would be bloodshot. He wasn't sleeping much if at all. Not that Scorpius was doing much better nor did he blame him, nightmares about his time with the muggles plagued him constantly and often overlaid or jumbled in with Antonius and failing to protect or save him. Professor Ashain seemed so upset he actually asked them questions about Antonius, seemingly desperate for anything about his son. Idly, he wondered if his parents had been that upset when he'd been missing.

He did manage to keep up with arranging Quidditch practices, not that his team were too happy about it considering Scorpius had taken a liking to early morning slots. His struggles with nightmares made it hard to get a good night's sleep so he was tired, a nice start in the biting cold, fierce January wind was good for waking him though. Albus was not so pleased though, he was extremely upset about his break up with Grozda and since she loved Quidditch so much, it was a sure way to rile up his misery. Scorpius didn't see how he could care about that when Antonius was missing but then he supposed he'd be devastated too if Molly broke up with him. Homework was another matter and Maurice quickly became his rock, helping him both to stay on top of it and helping him when he was doing it.

In general, Maurice was really quite a star. He was keeping up the protection of the Scamanders and had now added Martha to that, there were no further attempts on anyone's life that month and Scorpius was sure it had to be at least in part because Maurice was making it difficult. He was also quite glad because he did not want to be dealing with that on top of everything else, Scorpius just really had to get back into the swing of things. He'd have more things on his plate soon enough anyway with Apparation classes starting, he, Abby, Albus, Rose, Maurice – although Scorpius wasn't sure he'd be allowed due to his younger age, Corin had practically thrown a tantrum when his father had said he was unable to let him take the class early – and even the reluctant Michael had signed up for them like most Sixth Years did.

The first Hogsmeade trip of the new year was the same weekend as the first class so it would be a busy one, Molly had agreed to meet him though this time so he had. Even though he felt guilty for even thinking about having a good time with Antonius gone. He and Molly had both been putting more effort into communicating, their letters were always brief but sending them at all was to show they still cared not to be able to stay caught up on what the other was doing. They had to save that for more reliable communication like a face to face meeting in Hogsmeade, he also hoped there'd be news on Antonius too. Scorpius was so tempted to just turn into a Thestral and fly out to look for him, a complete lack of idea of where to go and what to do stopped him though. Maybe some things were best left to Varanian.

Varanian did give him news though, he couldn't figure out where the Shadows had taken him and what muggles they'd put him with because the Shadows weren't actually involved like Michael had believed. Later in the month he also sent word the Shadows believed Florian had taken him, the team trying to track Florian was supposed to save both Antonius and Oathan on Brutus' orders when they found and killed the delusional defector. It helped put Scorpius' mind only slightly at ease, after all he still had no idea how Florian was treating him or why he wanted him or if Antonius was even still alive. This also made Abby particularly invested, Florian was still the man who had murdered her brother after all.

News wise, Lebanon fell to the Shadows in the second week back making it now five entire countries that were completely under the Shadows' control. But before that, Scorpius was actually surprised to see – or rather have pointed out to him by Maurice – his own family was mentioned in an article about Lysel Leebin. For the first time in a while, there was a front page article not about Shadows but werewolves.

**_SANE WEREWOLVES?!_**

_At the most recent full moon last night, the first werewolf transformation in the history of the wizarding world has occurred where the werewolf kept their sane mind without being under the influence of Wolfsbane. Lysel Logan Leebin made history today for the second time in the two year old's short life._

_Lysel's story begins even before birth during the attack of the werewolf army on Hogsmeade in 2020, the wizarding village being where the Leebin family resides. His mother Myriam Leebin then aged 29 was pregnant at the time with Lysel and bitten during the attack by an unspecified werewolf, not only turning her but Lysel in utero. Instances of pregnant women being bitten are quite rare and in most cases a miscarriage occurs, if a birth always occurs it is always premature and the infant usually is stillborn or dies shortly after birth. Lysel was born premature late December 23rd of the same year but managed to survive, making him the first naturally born werewolf in wizarding history._

_"Healing Magic has made advancements and always is striving to better itself," says Garrett Miller, 54, a Head Healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, "I believe this is why Lysel has survived when others have perished, instances like this are so rare that there simply has not been opportunity to test these advancements on a werewolf baby." This appears to be the general consensus for Lysel's success across the Healing industry, Lysel has been on an intensive regime of potions to aid his body in surviving the brutal and painful transformations he has to undergo monthly. "He's lucky to have survived," says Magizoologist Quentin Tarrow, 39, "It is not widely known but werewolf transformations can kill, they take a tremendous toll on the body even in healthy magical adults and while most people bitten can survive there are two major exceptions: muggles and babies. And this is if they even survive the initial traumatic injury, especially in infants it's often fatal. None under a year are reported to have survived to adulthood, in my professional opinion I don't believe Lysel will either."_

_In addition to his potion regime, Lysel has also been given Wolfsbane which is provided free to all werewolves by the Ministry as per Lupin's Law. The potion must be taken daily in the week leading up to the full moon, Lysel has been no exception until recently. After a recent Shadow attack on his home occurring on the night of his second birthday, both his mother and human elder sister are in critical care in St Mungo's while his father is missing. Lysel is temporarily being taken in by former Death Eater Draco Malfoy, 42, and his wife Astoria, 40, who have a son not only the same age but born earlier the very same day as Lysel. _

_"We didn't forget to give him Wolfsbane," the widowed mother of Draco, Narcissa Malfoy, insisted testily as if her interviewer had just suggested it, "He poured it away because it 'tastes bad.'" Whatever the reason, on the evening of January 7th the Malfoys did discover Lysel had gone without his Wolfsbane. "There wasn't time to get more so we did what any normal people would do," Draco Malfoy states with a steely glare, "Locked him in the basement with protective enchantments so he couldn't get out to harm us and contacted the Ministry." _

_However before Ministry official arrived to contain the werewolf, young Sol wandered down into the basement, likely drawn by the screams of pain from his friend during the transformation. When Malfoy rushed down to save his son, he found Lysel fully transformed and cuddled up to Sol who was singing a nursery rhyme to soothe his friend. Lysel showed no signs of hostility, initially believing the boy simply too exhausted from the transformation he removed Sol. When Ministry workers came though, they found Lysel still showing no signs of hostility towards them and seeming perfectly capable of understanding English. _

_This has opened up a flood of debate in the magical community, there is debate whether his unusual circumstances are the cause or whether it had been somehow triggered by a combination of his potion regime or if Wolfsbane can have lingering effects. People in favor of his natural state argue that he displays traits different to humans like his eyes naturally being golden as they are transformed or sharper more canine like teeth (however it is noteworthy the latter can occur in regular victims, especially children bitten young will develop sharper adult teeth then their human peers) while others argue the eyes are just a coincidence. _

_Both werewolf and human alike are nonetheless excited by this discovery and the potential for werewolves to somehow retain or regain their humanity, scientists are also seeking custody of the boy from the Malfoys for further experimentation and requesting his body for study upon his death. Lysel's lifespan is still believed to be short, his body too weak to handle the strain, but he may still yet provide new hope for werewolves._

* * *

**Part 5: **In Blood

* * *

Valerian "Vale" Rooke sat quietly on his bed in his own room in the Burrow, it was one of the few places he ever felt safe. Grampy Arthur and Grammy Molly had told him that it was his room, his own special place just for him. They usually watched him while his daddy was at work and since his mama was dead now and his daddy worked late quite a bit, he often spent the night there now so had been given his own room. He liked it, he'd never seen his daddy in his room there so it felt safe. He was so scared of his daddy.

He'd always known his daddy didn't like him, he may not understand all of the meanings of the words said to him but he got that he was hated and got there was something intrinsically wrong with him. Everyone said it, not just his daddy. He wasn't completely stupid, he may not say much but he heard everything even if he didn't quite understand it all. Since his mama died, his daddy also had started hurting with his wand, he'd say '_Crucio_' and Vale would be pain. He just hurt and hurt everywhere, nothing he could do made it stop. He liked the nights when he stayed with Grampy Arthur and Grammy Molly, they never hurt him with their wands. Nor had his mama, he missed his mama.

Of course they still tried to feed him, he didn't know why. He knew he was hungry but too many times he'd gone to eat food and it had been so bad he wanted to be sick or it just hurt his mouth, his daddy would make him eat it anyway so it was just safer to be hungry. Surely they had to have realized sometimes food was bad, either they didn't understand or didn't care. They were always encouraging him to play as well, smile and talk, be happy. Like his mama. How could he possibly do that when the world was so bad? When his daddy despised him, when his mama was dead, when he lived in constant fear, when he knew there was something very wrong with him. The world was a scary place, food and drink could hurt you, people randomly stepped out of the shadows to attack people like when that man had chained August to a tree and lighted him on fire. And then there was how his daddy could take away life.

He half expected toys to bite him if they weren't immediately snatched away from him as soon as he worked up the courage to take it anyway, the same way he expected his blankets to attack him in his sleep. How could he be happy when the world was so bad that he lived in terror? He knew exactly where his heart is because more often than not he could feel it trembling from his fear or pounding like there was a mini-Vale hammering on the inside of his chest, desperate to escape his dark prison. No one understood that though or else they just didn't care. He didn't feel like smiling when he felt that bad. And talking… he didn't like talking, he never knew the right words for what he wanted to say.

Learning colors, shapes and to count to ten didn't help him describe why he cried himself to sleep at night. He had to because whenever he closed his eyes to sleep, he saw his mama's death playing where it had been burned into the back of his eyelids. The horrifying memory haunted him. He could still remember her struggling, still see her hanging there, still smell her perfume lingering in the air but most of all he remembered how he did nothing while he watched his daddy kill her. What emotion was that called? The memory of Uncle Ron wasn't much better, Uncle Ron had been nice to him but Vale had still agreed with his daddy. He'd been so scared his daddy would kill Uncle Harry and hurt Vale, he had said a lie and now everyone thought Uncle Ron was bad, everyone was sad about it. And poor Uncle Ron, he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place. Whatever that emotion was, he felt it worse about lying for Uncle Ron. He didn't know if Uncle Ron was even alive.

"Hey Vale, there you are," Grampy Arthur commented and Vale turned to the door to see the old man entering, his wrinkled face soothing. The elder smile warmly at him as he approached him, carrying a box of toys he'd gone to get, "You should've waited downstairs."

Vale hung his head ashamedly and twiddled his thumbs, he had been bad and disobeyed but he liked his room better. Grampy Arthur came over to him and set the box on the bed beside him, he glanced inside and saw a variety of metal box shaped things with wheels.

"But it's alright, we can play in here if you'd like," Grampy Arthur assured him gently before taking out one of the toys, "This is a car, muggles use them to transport themselves. Well obviously real cars are much bigger for muggles to fit in them, this is just a toy version. They're pretty cool, huh? Aren't muggles marvelous?"

He then proceeded to show Vale the different toy cars he had, they came in all different colors, shapes and sizes with some being specialized like the bus or police car. Grampy Arthur showed them how they moved by rolling them on the wheels, telling him about how the sides were doors that opened and encouraging him to try it. Vale tried to work up the courage to do so while Grampy Arthur rambled on excitedly about muggle cars and how he had once owned one of them that he made fly, Vale would've liked to have seen that. He finally settled on one of the white ones and moved it around on the bed, pretending he was driving away from his daddy forever in it.

"And this one used to be Ron's favorite," Grampy Arthur told him before his face fell sadly, he thumbed the toy in his hand and looked like he was trying not to cry, "When he was a boy. He was a good boy, once."

"I sorry," Vale mumbled and Grampy Arthur forced a smile.

"It's alright, Vale, it's not your fault," Grampy Arthur assured him gently and patted him on the back, Vale's eyes filled with tears. He couldn't stand it anymore, his lie was making people sad, people he cared about.

"I did a lie," Vale admitted tearfully, earning a look of surprise from Grampy Arthur, "Uncle Ron is good and Daddy is bad. Daddy killed Mama, Daddy _Crucio_ I. I is sorry, I was so scared of Daddy, I is sorry!"

Vale broke down sobbing, he buried his face in his hands – as best he could with a toy car still clutched in one of them - and rocked his body to comfort himself. After a second he felt Grampy Arthur put his arm around him and pull him close.

"My poor boy, it's okay," Grampy Arthur offered, rubbing his shoulder soothingly, "It'll be okay now."

"No it won't," his daddy said and both of them jumped in shock, Grampy Arthur staggered to his feet and Vale looked up to see the older man's face contort with rage for his daddy but his daddy was faster, "_Avada Kedavra_."

Without knowing the meaning of the spell, Vale knew they were bad from how his Grampy Arthur's expression turned to one of horror. Just for the briefest of seconds before the green light struck him and enveloped every corner of the room, throwing his lifeless body back onto the bed. Vale knew he was dead, he could see the lack of life in his eyes. Just like his mama. His daddy magically lifted Grampy Arthur's body and put it in the chair in the corner, positioning his hand over his heart.

"I told you not to tell anyone, Vale," his daddy told him darkly and tears bubbled in his eyes again, "I had to kill that sweet old man because of you. You're a monster, why do you want everyone who cares about you even slightly to die? That's sick."

"I don't!" Vale cried desperately and miserably, "I won't tell anymore."

"Good. And I'll know if you do because I'm _always_ watching you, Vale," his daddy said seriously, forcing him to meet his dark eyes, "Now run down to Grammy Molly and tell her he said his heart hurt, that he clutched at his chest and collapsed onto the chair, that he told you to get help. And I was never here."

Vale nodded and reluctantly rushed to obey, unable to stop the tears streaming down his cheeks as he ran to get her and spew his daddy's lies. His daddy was gone by the time Vale returned to his room with Grammy Molly, watching her wail and fight to save him when it was already too late. Too late because of Vale, he'd been alive and happy just a few minutes ago. Why did he have to go and open his mouth? He just destroyed lives. He clutched the toy car in his hand, remembering how excited Grampy Arthur had been about it. He'd treasure it but his room no longer felt safe. He wished it was true, he wished his daddy had never been there.

* * *

_"Which letter is your favorite?" Carver asked conversationally of Patton - the boy he sat next to now Ethan had moved up - who threw him a murderous glare, "I like the little 'e' cause I like thas is curly."_

_"I like shut up Daddy's boy," Patton spat bitterly much to Carver's upset, he just wanted to fit in and have friends now Ethan was gone. Patton rubbed his hand, covered in red letters._

_"Mum says thas your nos s'pos to draw on yourself," Carver pointed out in case Patton wasn't aware of this, it only earned him an even darker look._

_"Arwe you stupid?" Patton demanded of him and Carver scowled worriedly, was he stupid? "Why don't we swap quills and thened you can tell me that again."_

_"Okay," Carver agreed eagerly, thinking Patton may like him then. _

_They swapped quills, Patton looking really quite pleased with this for some reason. Carver made to continue the writing exercise with his shiny new quill, only to have it snatched out of his hand by the teacher who must've seen. Patton quivered in fear but Master Wolfe hauled him up and threw him roughly onto the ground, whipping his wand out in an instant to aim for the toddler who burst into tears as he begged for mercy._

_"Xerxes' son doesn't use blood quills," the master snarled and a jet of light left his wand, striking to sobbing boy. The cries became screamed as he writhed on the ground, Carver giggled. Why did they do that? Didn't they know how silly they looked? After a few minutes, Master Wolf lowered his wand again, "Never again. And I want an extra roll of parchment telling me such, if you spell it wrong then you can do it again until you get it right."_

_Patton nodded meekly and dragged his shaking body back onto his seat, Master Wolf gave them back their correct quills and moved back to the front of the class. Carver went back to writing and Patton did the same, or at least tried to. His hand was shaking so much it was illegible and the tears leaking from his eyes messing with the red ink, making it even worse. With a pang of sadness, Carver realized this meant Patton likely still wouldn't like him. The rest of the lesson passed in silence as they usually did these days, Carver very much had similar reactions to Patton with his other classmates. _

_His life passed by miserably until his own third birthday – only his dad gave him gifts – several months after Ethan's when he too was moved into the next class with him, he didn't know what he'd do without Ethan. At least he was less lonely with Ethan around but he did still dislike the school in general, it was boring and serious, he didn't care about being a Soul Eater or a soldier. He missed playing and having fun, he missed being able to do what he wanted, his missed his mum. As the year wore on, Carver was forced to more and more just accept his unhappy life. And then Ethan went and turned four, once again being moved to the older class and leaving Carver alone. Once again, he struggled to get along with his classmates. And he thought they were actually getting meaner as his chubbiness became more noticeable._

_"Hey Carver, do you know why theyed call you Carver?" Patton taunted when they were outside doing athletic exercises that he struggled with, waddling behind the rest of his class._

_"No," Carver admitted and Patton smirked._

_"It's b'acause you're so fat they could carver you up and feeding the army!" Patton told him and the other children laughed, Carver's cheeks tinged pink as his eyes welled with tears._

_"Carver's so fat the wholer class could use him for cover!" Lyda – a girl in his class – added which earned more laughter, Carver's cheeks now burned red as the tear supply started leaking from his eyes._

_"Y'know his pwecious Mum should've have just called him Fatter nor Carver," Bernard – another boy in his class – supplied which earned even more laughter, Carver just stopped as he burst into tears._

_"What is the matter, Carver?" Master Zelle snapped at him as she noticed him stop._

_"Th-They're being me-mea-mean t-to me," Carver told her in between sobs while the rest of the class froze, looking positively scared, "C-Calling m-me na-a-ames and la-laughing at me."_

_"Which ones called you names?" Master Zelle questioned and Carver pointed the three out to her, "Well you three just earned yourself a trip to the dungeons because I don't have time to punish you all, the rest of you get extra lines. You know you don't make fun of a Master's son."_

_"Snitch," Patton snapped and Master Zelle had her wand on him in an instant, he fell to the ground screaming and convulsing uncontrollably. Seriously, why did they do that? Did the spell make them act stupid?_

_At any rate, while they were punished it only worsened his relationship with them. His class threw him dark looks whenever they passed him or saw him, ignored him when he spoke and he knew they mocked him behind his back. He didn't know why but he did come to dread physical exercises, only becoming more aware of his obesity. He was glad when he turned four, this time his mum did actually send him gifts as well which was good because he'd been starting to forget about her. He was really quite overjoyed, maybe she did love him after all. A bubble of hope formed in his heart and it wasn't burst, that summer he was returned to his mum because she wanted him back._

_He was so excited he was practically bouncing off the walls and the memories came flooding back when he saw his home, the crumbling house was a welcome change to the Training Tower. He squealed with delight when his saw his mum waiting, she smiled and held out her arms when she saw him. He ran over to her and threw himself into her arms, she squeezed him tightly and he hugged her back._

_"I missed you so much, Mum!" Carver cried happily, tears of joy filling his eyes for once as he let himself be cuddled._

_"I missed you too," she admitted and patted his back gently._

_"Then why did you sendat me away?" Carver wondered as they pulled away._

_"BECAUSE CARING FOR CHILDREN IS STRESSFUL, CARVER, GOD!" his mum screamed at him angrily and his own joy wavered but his mum took a deep breathe, her smile returning as she started smoothing his hair into place, "But it's okay, we're both a bit older now and you've been educated so hopefully we'll be okay."_

_"Okay, Mum," Carver smiled, just happy to be home._

* * *

The article wasn't the last thing to hit the papers about Lysel, Scorpius actually felt bad that his family had managed to bring the toddler into the public eye. Now he had scientists arguing for the right to experiment on him especially considering he might not have much of a life left to experiment with, other extremists viewed it as a bad thing and claimed Lysel was an abomination of life who should be alternatively locked up in New Azkaban prison or 'put down, like the dog he is' according to some extreme person. And the bad news kept coming.

February began in blood, Albus and Rose – along with the other Potter/Weasley kids – got word of their grandfather's death. The Shadows also made their next attack on Damascus, the Capital of Syria which was the country in between Lebanon and Turkey. Scorpius thought Maurice was proved correct in his hunch about the Shadow Master wanting to create a bridge between the countries he controlled, Israel would likely be the next target. However there was a change in the usual pattern as they discovered first thing on Friday before the Hogsmeade trip and Apparation lessons, they were shushed into their seats as their teacher listened to the radio.

_"… Breaking news is still occurring here! We have live Mahir Samara from Daraa, Syria, speaking to us through magic mirror where was he talking to his brother, here in the UK when the Soul Eaters attacked! The city of Aleppo miles away is also believed to be under attack due to communications shutting down as has occurred with everywhere they've attacked so far, this marks the first time the Soul Eaters have attacked two cities so distant at once. What's happening there now, Mr Samara?"_

_"The-There's th-the dead in-in the streets,"_ came a stammer of broken English in a different voice, presumably Mahir Samara.

_"Dead? People have just dropped dead?!"_ the first voice wondered in shock.

_"N-No, the already dead. Inferi,"_ Samara's voice told them fearfully, "_An army of Inferi, muggles shoot at them but the bullets do nothing. Aurors try to fight them but there is too many and we do not have man- The Aurors are down, they-they're all being t-torn apart_…"

"_Stay with us, Mahir!"_ the first voice urged as Samara trailed off, sounding like he was resisting the urge to retch, "_Your words are the only account the entire free world of the Soul Eater attacks, what's happening now?"_

_"I-I th-there is a voice, magically amplified for all to hear."_

_"The Shadow Master?!"_

_"No, a child,"_ Samara corrected.

"_Why a child?"_ the other voice demanded in surprise as if Samara would actually know.

"_Maybe he is all they have who speak Arabic, I do not know," _Samara guessed distractedly as if he was listening, "_He is saying instruction on surrender, if we want to live we must crouch in a ball until we are given word we can stop. The Inferius have orders to tear apart everyone who is resisting, if you are not in this position then they will think that you are resisting and kill you. Muggles and wizards alike will be spared if you do this and do it now while they sweep the city for resistance, he says we cannot beat them or escape- Oh Merlin, the Inferi are climbing the buildings to get inside!"_

"_Stop panicking, Mahir! Come on,"_ the first voice complained.

"_I-I must crouch or I will die_," Samara whimpered fearfully, _"Cyrus is still speaking, he is say if the Mayor does not surrender to Stephan and the Soul Eaters by the time the Inferius finish the sweep then they will kill all of us… Now the Mayor is speaking, he is sobbing and agreeing to the surrender- Inferi! Inferi! Inferi are climbing in the windows! I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"_

Samara trailed off, saying words in a language that Scorpius didn't recognize which was presumably Arabic. He heard a guttural shriek and a smashing sound, Scorpius would guess the mirror.

"_For our confused and concerned listeners, what I just saw through the mirror and what you just heard was an Inferius grabbing the mirror and throwing it against the wall_," the first spoke again, sounding somewhat shaken, "_But Mahir was alive last I saw him, folks! But those may still be the last words of Mahir Samara, who we can only eternally thank for talking to us here and his brother for alerting us to it before the Ministry could cover it. And so there you have it, live from inside the throes of war. Daraa has fallen..."_


	10. Chapter 10: Figuring Things Out

_**Parts (40-43)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 10  
**

Figuring Things Out

* * *

**Part 1: **Life and Lies

* * *

_Xerxes thought his kindness for saving his half-brother despite the boy being damaged paid off because in September, he finally got his daughter who he was allowed to name Viola but she got the mother's last name. A fair trade off in his opinion, he loved the name Viola and he loved her. Sure she was colicky enough to rival Carver but she was just his most adorable little princess, he doted on her. He could dress her up in girl clothes and buy girl toys for her to play with, he showered with affection and was glad his sons were busy in the Training Tower so he had more time for her. _

_She became the most important girl in his life, he stayed away from his usual women. Well, except for when Viola was with her mother who stupidly wanted to share custody, why couldn't she have been the one to die in labor instead of Edythe? Then he'd have Viola all to himself. Although he did have a plan for that though, he'd already started on praising the school and convincing her it would be good for Viola's education to send her there. Thankfully, she was one of them ambitious Slytherin types so giving her daughter an educational head start was appealing to her. The year flew by and by the time Viola turned one, her mother had indeed signed up for a place with the Training Tower._

_He had other things on his mind, the first was named Pyrrhus. The other teachers wanted him to take the test, believing him to be a weak link due to his short time there and lack of belief in the ideals they were trying to teach him. The second was named Alzay, he was mildly surprised to find she had signed up for the Soul Eaters but even more surprised to hear she'd had twin sons. From what he'd seen of her mind… somehow he didn't think she'd make a good mother, especially considering the children were flawed with one being albino and one deaf. They wanted him to learn sign language to be able to communicate with the deaf boy, the master had a plan for him and his brother. Now Alzay selling her sons' lives for her father's, that sadly didn't surprise him in the slightest._

_He ultimately agreed on both counts, he'd tried his best with Pyrrhus clearly and either the boy would have what it takes or he didn't. And about the deaf boy… he was sold the second he heard his tutor would be some witch they'd hired, Brenna Watson, a half-blood with a deaf muggle uncle who was a rather stunning young lady. She had jet black hair, cloudy gray eyes and a piercing in her nose, he didn't see that often with purebloods. She was also quite open-minded and it didn't take him long to get into bed with her, she was fine with a casual thing with him. He was pleasantly surprised, it was also quite good because it meant he could concentrate on learning the language instead of focusing on how to seduce her, he tediously also got tasked with selecting a boy to be the deaf boy's bunk mate. He got another pleasant surprised when he learned Pyrrhus had managed to pass the test despite the short amount of time, he thought it was a good sign and solved his secondary task as well._

_"So you passed the test," Xerxes told his brother proudly, sitting the battered youth across from in his office and pouring a glass of wine which had Pyrrhus raise his hanging head an inch to look at him with broken violet eyes, "How do you feel?"_

_"Sick," Pyrrhus said quietly, Xerxes scowled at the unenthusiastic response._

_"Well chin up, it's better than death."_

_"Is it?" Pyrrhus wondered, sounding as if he was genuinely curious._

_"Yes," Xerxes insisted, "And anyway now it's over with, you proved all of them wrong and succeeded."_

_"What?" Pyrrhus questioned in confusion, "You mean my teachers thought I'd fail? They sent me there expecting me to die?"_

_"Well yes but I told them you could do it and you did!" Xerxes offered enthusiastically while Pyrrhus looked off sadly again, a shadow of betrayal in his expression, "Anyway, as a reward how would you like to learn sign language?"_

_"Sign language? Like what deaf people use?"_

_"Yes! Exactly, most wizards don't know what it is. There's a deaf child coming to the school in July, I'd like for you to be his bunk mate. You'll have to take of him, make sure his needs are seen to and give him more than the usual helping hand in guiding him around since not many people will be able to communicate with him so you'll have more independent learning from missing some classes."_

_"Why me?" Pyrrhus questioned, looking quite puzzled._

_"Because you'll likely have to get someone, it teaches responsibility and helps build bonds between generations. You're damaged mentally and he's deaf, seems perfect," Xerxes explained and gave a shrug, "Plus you're my brother and I trust you more than those other idiots, I have to learn it seems fair for both of us."_

_"You know deaf people can still lead perfectly full lives, right?"_

_"Do you want to do it or not?" Xerxes asked irritably and Pyrrhus looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding, he smiled and put down his wine, "Excellent. Alright, so let's start with the alphabet."_

* * *

"Did you guys hear the radio?" Orous asked anxiously as the Fifth Years joined Scorpius and his friends in the Library, "W-With the Inferi…?"

"I think everyone has," Michael admitted.

"Brutal," Abby commented with a sad shake of her head.

"Well really it's quite logical," Maurice spoke up neutrally, "From the cities alone people are probably dying by the thousands, turning them into Inferi makes good use of the dead instead of them just being a waste. The world is a big place and if the Shadow Master has to take it all by himself with the Scepter then it'll take longer than if he can have someone leading part of the army as well who can take cities without the Scepter, as a negative this also means destroying the Scepter may not be as crippling as we'd originally hoped. On the positive side of things though, dividing the army can also backfire as naturally there's strength in numbers and we got the names of presumably high ranking Shadows as well: Stephan and Cyrus, the latter of whom was stupid enough to give away their names when translating which is dumb for even a child."

"Naturally, you would look at it like that," Orous criticized with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course_ he_ would, you know he's bad at being a person," Albus contributed disinterestedly, idly leaning on his hand pretending to write something his Charms essay which earned them both a scowl from Maurice.

"You know, it's not fair you people are so mean to me," Maurice spoke up irritably, earning a look of surprise from Albus.

"How are we mean to you?"

"Just because I think about things in a different, more rational way then you doesn't mean that I don't still have feelings and you shouldn't speak to me like I don't. I do a lot, okay?! And I wouldn't do it if I wasn't a person! I'm the one who has to check Lorcan, Lysander and Scorpius' dormitories every night to make sure there's no sabotage, I'm the one having to yo-yo around this whole castle constantly on alert to make sure they and Martha aren't targeted, I'm the one who has to teach Cassia Occlumency, I'm the everyone expects to figure things like this out because you care about my training and knowledge then!" Maurice ranted to them in frustration, "The least you could do is give me that fact I'm human and not mock my knowledge!"

"You're human, okay?" Scorpius assured him gently, "We get it and appreciate what you do, we're sorry."

"You know we don't mean it seriously, right?" Vern added and the fact Maurice blinked in surprise seemed to indicate to the contrary.

"What brought that on?" Albus wondered and Maurice shrugged unhappily.

"It's nearly Valentine's Day, its making him feel more miserably about Lenore than usual," Corin pointed out, covering his mouth with his hand.

"You know this necklace doesn't give a damn whether I see your mouths or not?" Maurice commented dryly.

"No, I did not but I've always wondered so I figured I may as well try it."

"Valentine's Day," Albus repeated miserably and buried his face in his hands, "Why Grozda, why?!"

"Because she wasn't as serious about the relationship as you were," Maurice pointed out and Albus looked back up again, his expression turning dark as he saw Abby approaching with Sequoia hand-in-hand.

"Sorry we're late, Quidditch practice ran over," Sequoia apologized, Abby had been watching it, "What's up, Al- Oh yeah, I'm sorry about your grandfather and you too, Rose. He sounded like a great guy."

"Thanks," Rose offered with a weak smile and Corin squeezed her hand supportively, "His funeral's this weekend so we'll miss the Hogsmeade trip."

"That's not why he's upset though, he's still bummed about Grozda dumping him," Abby explained for him.

"How do you know that?" Albus wondered in surprise.

"Your sad-about-Arthur face is slightly different to your sad-about-Grozda face," Abby told him with a shrug, causing the Gryffindor's face to crease into a scowl before something seemed to occur to him.

"Actually Sequoia, would you mind if asked you a kind of personal question?"

"No," Sequoia admitted slightly reluctantly as he seemingly wanted to get on with his girlfriends' friends, a flicker of worry crossed Abby's face.

"You graduate this year but Abby doesn't, what are your plans for the relationship then?"

"I-I don't see why that's relevant or any of your business," Sequoia said carefully and nervously scratched the back of his head, eying Abby with a look of concern.

"I don't mean to pry, it's just the reason me and Grozda broke up so I think it's important for couples to be on the same page," Albus explained with false innocence as he leaned confidently back in his chair.

"Oh right, well…" Sequoia started to say as he seemed to explanation, looking anxiously at Abby as beads of sweat formed on his brow, "I erm… I was hoping we could… erm… you know try the long distance thing, it's just a year and there's owls and Hogsmeade visits."

"Really?" Abby wondered in surprise, an expression she shared with Albus who clearly had been expecting him to say the opposite.

"Yes- I mean yeah if-if you'd like," Sequoia stammered out, the sweat starting to roll down the scars on his face, "B-But if you aren't up for being tied down to someone you don't see for a while then I-I totally understand, you deserve to be happy."

"Oh Sequoia, I'd love to try long distance with you," Abby agreed with a grin as she took his hands.

"Really?" Sequoia questioned, his face lighting up as if he'd been worried of the contrary. She answered with a nod and kissed him, Albus buried his face in his hands, "Well I should be going, I'll see you later, Abby and chin up, Al."

"Chin up, Al," Albus repeated mockingly as Sequoia left his girlfriend with them, Abby threw him a glare.

"What the hell was that?!" Abby demanded, "Were you trying to screw up our relationship?!"

"No," Albus scoffed and shifted awkwardly, "I was just testing his loyalty, you know how much I want this relationship to succeed."

"No, you don't," Abby countered irritably.

"No I don't," Albus admitted, it was a pretty obvious lie after almost a year of dislike and criticism, "But still, it worked out even though Sequoia is a douche-wad."

"You're a douche-wad!" Abby yelled at him before storming off, Albus folded his arms crossly.

"Women, huh?"

* * *

_That settled, Xerxes' life settled back into a comfortable routine and by July he had successfully mastered sign language as well as having passed it along to his brother. He always had been pretty good at languages, he was naturally talented like that because he was awesome. It gave him a chance to spend time with his brother when he hadn't before, he wasn't sure if he was imagining it but he thought Pyrrhus had become more unhinged then before he'd arrived. There was just something… off about his mind, his thoughts were difficult to comprehend even for Xerxes who was a brilliant Legilimens if he did say so himself. He was also still seeing Brenna, she was fine with continuing their causal relationship. His only regret was that she wasn't a Soul Eater, he had to be careful about what he said._

_The deaf boy, Maurice, started alright at the Training Tower and Viola also later that year when she got her second birthday, Xerxes had the staff make extra allowances for her because she was little girl. That year, Carver's mother starting getting antsy to get him back which was quite tedious. They settled on returning him in the summer under the promise of teaching him better behavior, Maeghan didn't cared too much about education – because she was an idiot – but she did want him to behave. It wasn't the ideal amount of time but he brought Carver back anyway, it was kind of tedious because now he'd have to go all the way over to England to spend time with him, he'd gotten used to just having his son there whenever he wanted to see him. He needn't have worried, she was fed up less than a year later and wanted him to take Carver again when her new boyfriend didn't like him. Problem solved. _

_Life was good, he was turning thirty that year and he had a good stable job, four children and still plenty of time and energy to date. Until his problem was unsolved, Maeghan wanted Carver back after her boyfriend broke up with her. He returned Carver once again and started seeing him in England, usually seeing Brenna after or hitting the bars if she wasn't available. He threw Viola a huge birthday party – at least in terms of gifts and cake, only her brothers attended of course – for her third birthday but he was in for a bigger surprise that month. He was having drinks with Brenna one of the days at her house, she was celebrating because she'd opened up the bakery she'd been saving up to open up in Hogsmeade. It was a good thing he was a Legilimens, keeping track of this worthless information he was supposed to care about for these women would be rather tedious otherwise. _

_And it was a good thing he was skimming her mind because he noticed something: she'd recently discovered she was pregnant with his child. He nearly choked on his drink in shock and immediately snatched hers away from her._

_"What are you doing drinking that?! It's bad for my baby!" Xerxes burst out before he could stop himself, Brenna glared at him._

_"How do you even know about that?" Brenna questioned in surprise, looking quite offended._

_"Never mind how I know, why didn't you tell me?!"_

_"Because it's not an issue," Brenna shrugged it off, "We're hardly exclusive and I'm not interested in being a mum, especially not at this point in my life. I'm getting an abortion tomorrow, it's dealt with."_

_"No!" Xerxes snapped in panic, "You can't do that, it's my child! I want it to live, I want my baby."_

_"Well tough, it's my body and my choice. If I cared what you thought or wanted then I'd have asked your opinion," Brenna snapped back irritably, why did Xerxes have to be careless when he was seeing the same woman for a long time? This is why he did better with one night stands._

_"I'll give you money."_

_"No amount of you give me would make up for the cost of being stuck raising a child, I'm trying to start a new business. That's the only baby I care about right now."_

_"How about if I take care of the baby then?" Xerxes pleaded desperately but recognizing it was hopeless even as he spoke, he could see her mind and it was very much made up._

_"No, Xerx, I don't want to be a mother right now, I don't want to go through all the pregnancy and labor crap, I don't want this baby, okay? My mind's made up," Brenna said with an unwavering note of finality she actually meant as she stood and Xerxes panicked, he wanted his child, he was never going to turn his back on his offspring like his parents had him, "And I think I'd like it if you left now."_

_"Imperio!" Xerxes cast without thinking and it struck her in the back, he swallowed nervously but didn't undo it. _

_He'd just have to keep her under it until the child was born, she could be her usual self minus the abortion. She'd see when the baby was born, she'd be overwhelmed with love and realize her foolish error, she'd even be grateful. Of course she'd be grateful, clearly he was right about this and knew better than her, he was older wiser and had four kids already. _

_And he did, he kept Brenna under the Imperius Curse to make her keep the baby. He considered dropping it after she'd passed the legal abortion period but decided it was safer for his baby to not risk it, he didn't know if she'd do anything illegal. Plus, she wouldn't forgive him until she held her baby in her arms. He was rather distracted for the rest of the pregnancy, finding using the Imperius Curse actually kind of uncomfortable. Finally in April, Brenna went into labor and he could remove the curse. _

_It was a girl, he was pleased to have a second daughter already with tufts of his red hair. She was adorable, naturally, he was so handsome that he produced the best looking children of anyone he knew even if they had a mother as ugly-looking as Carver's mother Maeghan. He carried his newborn in to meet her own mother, expecting Brenna to be overjoyed and desperate to hold her child but she just glared at him._

_"Do you want to hold her?" Xerxes offered as he glanced into her mind, recognizing his plan had likely failed before she even opened her mouth._

_"You're sick, Xerxes," Brenna told him darkly, "You had no right to Imperise me just because you didn't like my choice and it was my choice, if you want a baby then go get yourself pregnant!"_

_"Come on, I get you're mad at me but you can't take it out on our daughter. Don't you think she's beautiful?"_

_"No, she's an ugly wrinkled lump!" Brenna snapped, her loud volume waking the baby and starting her off crying, "I told you I don't want a baby and I still don't. Raise it, give it away, throw it in a dumpster, I don't care. Just take her from me, I never want to see her or you again."_

_Xerxes respected her wishes this time, knowing he couldn't force her to love her daughter. Not in any way the baby would appreciate, nothing he could keep up for the rest of her life. Maybe he had been in the wrong but… no, he was glad baby daughter number two was alive. He was raising Ethan solo, he'd just have to with this girl and hope she never had interest in learning about her mother._

_He cradled her close and tried to think of a name, for some reason Edythe's voice came to mind. She'd wanted to name their child after her… grandmother? Great-grandmother? Whatever that old lady she'd lived with had been, if it was a girl. Martha. Martha had been the name, actually he quite liked that and he had quite liked Edythe, more then any of the women he'd ever been with. Well, in terms of personality anyway. He decided to honor that._

_"Welcome to the world Martha Edythe Seneca," Xerxes whispered to the sleeping infant and kissed her gently on the forehead._

* * *

"_Accio wand_," Antonius stated firmly and held out his hand to his wand, sitting there on the table in front of him and _still_ sitting there on the table in front of him even after he said it, "_Accio wand. Accio wand. Accio wand. Accio wand!"_

Nothing.

"Florian, how long do you expect me to keep this up?!" Antonius demanded irritably, "I've been at it for hours, I've been at it for hours every day for a month. Clearly I can't do it- I don't even have my wand to summon my wand! Clearly you're wasting time, clearly this ridiculous plan of yours is going to_ fail_. Give it up, listen to the voices in your mind."

"Again, Antonius," Florian insisted firmly, he was supervising as they sat in yet another hotel room, "You're just not trying hard enough."

"I'm trying! I'm just ten and this spell is way more advanced than me."

"When did you get a backbone?"

"When you murdered my uncle!" Antonius snapped angrily and Florian rolled his violet eyes.

"The only reason it's not working is because you _don't _want it to work," Florian stated quite calmly while Oathan squealed with delight at successfully turning a match into a needle which earned him a smile and applause from his father, "If you're secretly holding back even subconsciously then you won't do it, you need to want to do it. It's your wand and your magic, _make_ it work for you."

"Well I don't want to do it so I think it's quite impossible," Antonius decided and folded his arms crossly, his eyes drifting out the window sadly. He wondered how his family and friends were doing right now, if he'd ever see them again.

"Well why don't you want it to work?" Florian whined, maybe a touch more frustrated at the lack of progress then Antonius had initially thought.

"You would I want it work? You want to kill my friends," Antonius pointed out what he thought was fairly obvious.

"You now they're not really your friends, right? There's no such thing as friendship, they'll just turn on you. You're so much younger than them anyway, I doubt they ever really gave a damn about and have probably already forgotten about you."

"Even if you're right," Antonius said quickly to gloss over the fact the lunatic had touched on his own insecurities, "I don't care, _I_ care about them and_ I'm_ loyal to them. Scorpius, Orous and Maurice are my_ friends_, even Lorcan and Lysander don't deserve to die for your twisted plan."

"I find it interesting that you seem to care far more about their lives being sacrificed then your own," Florian mused thoughtfully and Antonius shrugged awkwardly.

"I know it's already too late for me," Antonius admitted while Florian watched him interestedly, "But it's not for them. Besides, it's my life and I can choose to sacrifice. You have no right to sacrifice other people's without them knowing or agreeing, that's not sacrifice. That's just murder."

"Well you're wrong there, kiddo."

"No, _you're_ wrong," Antonius insisted determinedly and Florian looked quite taken aback, "I think you've been with the Shadows too long and they'd drilled their brainwashing into you too well and you think it's okay but it's not, you think you're helping but you're not. If you really wanted to help then you'd go to Varanian-"

"Have you ever tried to _find_ Varanian?"

"-and think up a plan that doesn't involving killing so many people unnecessarily!"

"You know such black and white thinking is kind of childish?" Florian pointed out testily.

"I _am _a child!" Antonius yelled at him.

"That's no reason to be childish," Florian scoffed before they were both distracted by a woman's shriek.

They both turned to see Jack had returned, silently shadow-teleporting or whatever it was called that he could to do that. He wasn't alone though, he had grabbed some poor woman who was shrieking in panic. Antonius felt his twist painfully, this happened too often for his liking. Jack taking people to destroy the souls of and this was only the ones Antonius saw, he only brought his victims back if he struggled to find someone alone. Antonius had tried to fail to save every one of them.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Antonius protested to Florian, gesturing at Jack, "You just let innocent people die!"

"I can't help that he's like… a pain… soul… vampire," Florian shrugged dismissively, "He needs it to live or whatever and I need him so I have to allow it."

"I hate you," Antonius spat as Jack threw the now sobbing woman onto the spare bed, holding up his head in readiness.

"Jack/One wait!" Florian cried out suddenly, jumping up excitedly as if he'd thought of something and causing both he and Jack to look at him with confused scowls. He smirked, "Okay, Antonius, here's the deal: if you can summon your wand before Jack destroys the soul of that admittedly pretty woman then her life will be spared. Sound fair?"

"No!" Antonius burst out in shock but Florian shrugged and gestured for Jack to continue anyway, he held out his hand and a shadowy black light shot out to hit the woman who immediately started screaming and convulsing, "_Accio wand! Accio wand! Accio wand!"_

Antonius yelled at his wand with a mixture of emotion, frustration at his failure, anger at the situation, desperation to save her life. All to no avail, all it did was tremble. _Dammit!_ he thought to himself and hated himself for thinking of Florian's words as he willed his wand to obey, _you are my wand and I want you, I need you. Come to my hand, right now!_

_"Accio wand!"_

This time it worked, his wand flew from the table as if it been thrown to him by an invisible hand. He didn't even need to catch it, it came to his palm and he wrapped his hand around it triumphantly. He almost smiled, except he noticed the woman had stopped screaming. He turned and saw her lying dead on the bed, Jack folding his arms also triumphantly.

"Well done, Antonius!" Florian offered happily.

"Yay! He did it!" Oathan cried with a smile and clapped for him.

"_Sorry kid, guess you were too slow_," Jack/One shrugged with a smirk.

Antonius didn't feel pleased though, he felt as if was a cruel and unfair twist of fate. He'd done it, Florian should have ordered Jack to stop the second he saw the wand move and the woman should've gotten to live. He felt his body trembling with rage as he met the cold, dark eyes of that woman's killer and tightened the grip on the wand in his hand… the wand in his hand. He still had it, he raised it to Jack and the… man? Thing? Laughed.

"_What, Antonius? What are you going to do?"_ Jack/One taunted, "Kill us? You can't without breaking your soul. Stun us? Body-bind us? Do something that Pyrrhus can undo with a snap of his fingers?"

"Give it back, Antonius, you won't get out of here even with a wand and you know it," Florian added. Antonius very slowly and bitterly lowered his wand, letting Florian pluck it back from his grip, "Very good first successful attempt but we're going to need to keep working on it to get you good enough to stand up to Sal."

* * *

**Part 2: **From the Mouths of Drunks

* * *

"So are we all going to Hogsmeade?" Maurice questioned of them at breakfast the morning of the trip.

Their group had actually drastically shrunk, only Scorpius himself, Michael, Maurice, Corin and Orous joining them from the Hufflepuff table since the others were all at the Weasley patriarch's funeral along with their Herbology teacher.

"Of course, this is actually perfect opportunity to get Rose a present for Valentine's Day," Corin announced brightly, somewhat to Scorpius' surprise.

"What happened to just dating because the people you can't be with who you want to be with?" Scorpius questioned curiously.

"That's why we did it at first but you know we actually have a lot in common," Corin explained, sounding almost surprised by this fact himself, "Besides, seeing Albus pining for Grozda and trying to screw up Abby's relationship… It made me realize I'd rather not be like that, she's happy and I'm happy. We both let it go and moved on."

"I guess that is a point, it's our second Valentine's so I should get Lily something special," Orous spoke up, "She could use something to cheer her up and take her mind off things. We can pair up and gift shop together?"

"Sure."

"No," Maurice scoffed and stabbed unhappily at his plate.

"I'm meeting Molly so I can worry about a gift after that," Scorpius said as he shoveled the last of his eggs into his mouth.

"She's not going to the funeral?" Michael wondered curiously and Scorpius could only shake his head, both because his mouth was full and because he hadn't really thought about it, "Guess it's just you and me, Maurice."

"You and me," Maurice repeated with a nod.

"And keep him away from alcohol," Scorpius added to Maurice, earning a scowl from Michael.

"I can keep myself away from alcohol perfectly fine, thank you very much," Michael insisted testily.

"I disagree."

"Yeah, usually you hate going to Hogsmeade but suddenly you're keen?" Corin prompted rather knowingly, "You British can't handle your alcohol. In France we know how to take our liqueur, Maman lets me have a glass of wine with dinner and I don't go nuts for it like you do. Moderation, my friend."

"I'll be fine, okay?!" Michael snapped irritably.

"I'm sorry, we're just trying to think of what's best for your health."

"Well I'm old enough to do that for myself, thanks."

"Let's just go, already," Orous offered as he pushed away his almost empty plate, "They'll be gathering us outside to check permission slips soon enough."

They headed outside, the sun was out but it seemed lacking in warmth or maybe the chilly wind was just taking it away. At any rate, Scorpius zipped up his leather jacket and waited for whoever Professor Longbottom's replacement form checker would be. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was Grant, how could such a jackass like him have such a great son like Wyatt? He called the Seventh Years first before them in the Sixth Years. As they started to line up though, he heard Michael cry out in panic. He spun just in time to see his permission slip smoldering into ashes carried away by the wind, Maurice pocketing his wand seemed to be the culprit.

"What the hell, Maurice?!" Michael snapped at him angrily, the deaf boy looked unconcerned as he shrugged, "Why did you do that?"

"Because I don't think you should go to Hogsmeade with your drinking problem," Maurice stated simply and Michael threw his arms in the air in exasperation, the others giving the youngest of their group dark looks.

"I guess I'll see you later then because there's no way bloody Grant is going to believe I actually do have permission."

"I know," Maurice admitted, seemingly this had been part of his plan and Michael stormed off.

"You know we _want_ him to go to Hogsmeade, we're trying to get him over his unease there," Scorpius insisted irritably, Maurice's expression remained vacant, "As well as to not drink, you shouldn't have done that."

"I don't care," Maurice shrugged as they reached Grant with their forms, he waved them off with quick acceptance and they were on their way.

Scorpius trudged along still annoyed with Maurice, he also realized he didn't feel nervous about seeing Molly. He was looking forward to seeing her but he wasn't nervous, maybe it was because they'd been dating for so long or just his melancholic thoughts lately but he wasn't nervous. He wished he could leave with her, go off and do something useful with his life instead of wasting it in classes while his friend was gone. Again he had to endure Cistro's search before he could enter the dilapidated town, he thought it reflected the state of the wizarding world as a whole. Battered by the Shadows and struggling to hold on. He parted from his friends and headed to the Hog's Head where they were supposed to meet.

"Oi! Malfoy boy!" a gruff voice called the second he walked through the door and it wasn't Molly, Scorpius squinted through the shadows in the bar to notice Hogan Leebin sitting at one of tables and gesturing for him to approach. Scorpius cautiously did so and took a seat opposite, "Tell your family to back off, okay?"

"Back off?" Scorpius repeated in confusion.

"Yeah. Lysel's _my_ great-nephew, he's my blood and your family had no right to take him from me, just because they're rich and they have money. I have money, I just also have alimony."

"Being rich and having money is the same thing," Scorpius pointed out and Hogan leaned over the table to him, he wasn't sure if it was the small circumference of the circular table or how much Hogan had had to drink was the reason but Scorpius smelt the putrid fumes on his breath.

"I know what words, boy," Hogan growled before leaning back and throwing down another shot, "Think you're smarter than me too, huh? Just because you didn't have to pull a Bircorn's horn out of someone's ass today."

"It's really nothing to do with me, I'm in Hogwarts," Scorpius insisted and held up his hands to protest his innocence although he did dislike the man despite the potential useful beliefs about Rooke, "Although from what I gather, your niece-in-law disliking you and drinking in a bar in the morning probably don't look good."

"I work weird hours, okay? And it's not my fault that bitch doesn't like me, Flan is fine with me so it's none of her business. What kind of awful woman marries a guy responsible for his own father's death?"

"You know your nephew's probably dead, right?"

"Nope. If they wanted him dead then they'd have left a body, I talked to Lysel too 'kay?" Hogan insisted as he started to pour more into his glass, Scorpius was really starting to notice the slight slur in his words, "He's probably in some deep dark hole having his brain drilled – maybe even literally – into to spill the juicy little secrets those Aurors tell him because the idiot thought being a muggle head doctor was a bright idea, it's not like I got him a job in St Mungo's despite the fact he's a waste of space or anything. You know for the first six years of his life, he thought muggles were a kind of cake? What the fuck kind of dumbass kid thinks that?! You know Flan would've wanted me to take his kids."

"Really?" Scorpius repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, his bitch of a wife may not like me but we're fine. If I took good care of him when I didn't even like him then imagine great I'd be at taking care of kids I actually do like, can't blame the poor blighters for the fact their dad is an assjack."

"You're an assjack."

"I'd rather than be an honest assjack then a guy who let his daddy die," Hogan said seriously and raised his glass before downing it, "And I am being serious. Who taught Flan to apparate because he flunked out of Hogwarts like an idiot before being taught how? Me. Who let him stay in the old family farmhouse when he was homeless? Me. Ungrateful git never even gave me the key back, not like I'd ever want to go to that wreck but it's the principle. And then there's how your folks took Lysel the werewolf wonder but what about Maurene? The other child. Girl's been awake for weeks, no one gave a crap about her, thought to visit her or fought for_ her_ custody. No one except me because I'm a caring person and being a caring person, I care that siblings should be kept together not one get custody in one place and one another or one dead because his son let him and die and one alive. Plus I can get Lysel's potions for free."

"Well like I said, its nothing to do with me," Scorpius reiterated and heard the door as Hogan opened his mouth to reply, relief flooding him when he saw a flurry of fiery curls, "Bye."

"Wh- But I-"

Scorpius had already abandoned Hogan, walking over to his girlfriend in the doorway where her beautiful scent of cherries was already being carried in by tendrils of the breeze sneaking in as the door closed. She smiled at him but he noticed the dark circles beneath her incredible sky blue eyes, she was tired. He kissed her in greeting before putting his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry about your grandfather," Scorpius whispered into her ear and Molly hugged him harder.

"Thank you," Molly said equally quietly, they took each other's hands and simultaneously seemed to agree to just leave for a walk around town.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything but you know I would've understood if you had gone to your grandfather's funeral," Scorpius pointed out as they walked, "He seemed like a good man."

"He was," Molly sighed and looked at the scorched cobblestones, "And it's not really because of you, if I face my family then they'll ask questions and I don't have much to say to them. Gray is all I do and it happens to be not what they're all for, it's just easier if I stay away. I like to think Grampa would have understood, this is the world I'm fighting for, to try stop more of our family dying and if I get locked up then I can't do that. I'm not entirely sure what his stance on Gray was but I know he was for the world, he loved his family and h-he loved me."

"I'm sure he would've," Scorpius assured her gently and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, "How are you doing?"

"I'm hanging in there."

"Are you sure? You look tired."

"So do you," Molly countered as she looked back up, "Antonius or the muggles?"

"Both," Scorpius admitted quietly and she nodded as she gave his own hand a comforting squeeze, "What about you?"

"Bad dreams," Molly told him after a long pause, her expression darkening and becoming very serious, "Seery dreams."

"Don't suppose you see the Shadow Master's head on a stick?" Scorpius questioned in a lighter tone, trying to lift her spirits even slightly.

"I see my cousin torturing Leebin."

"Beating him?"

"Way beyond beating him," Molly said quietly, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground, "Last night I dreamed he was peeling the skin off Leebin's arm, going as slowly as possible to prolong his agony and then he poured scalding water over the wounds… He'll break, you know? Physically, he's broken already and he can't last forever mentally, James will do whatever he wants to him and get whatever he wants from him. We won't save him from this."

"What do you mean we won't save him from this?" Scorpius questioned and Molly blinked back to him in surprise.

"What? No, I'm hoping we can help the poor guy. I don't know why I said that," Molly insisted strangely and frowned.

"Do you see anything recently? Maybe to do with Antonius-" Scorpius started to say but was interrupted by her suddenly gasping, her eyes widening at a battered looking bakery – creatively named 'Brenna's Bakery' if the peeling poorly put together sign was to be believed – that she pulled him over to, "What is it?"

"I don't know, I just had a weird feeling this was relevant for some reason but I was mistaken."

"What-"

"Don't question the insane Seer girl, Scorpius," Molly chastised and turned away with a sigh, looking rather much like she didn't want to talk about it, "Let's go and… I don't know, do anything other then this."

"Okay… So how's Gray aside from that?"

* * *

Albus Severus Potter felt rather miserable. His grandfather was dead. His little friend was missing. His girlfriend had broken his heart by breaking up with him and now he was going to die alone and miserable and unloved because he'd never be able to find someone else because had no good qualities and failed consistently to live up to the family name in any way. His best friend was still dating a douche bag and now was mad at him for it instead of seeing he was only trying – and was the _only_ one trying – to help her. NEWT work was hard. There was a war… Well everything just sucked.

He tried to think the funeral was nice but in truth he hated it, he hated that yet another member of his family was dead. They were dropping like flies even without the Shadows being involved, he spent far too much time at funerals these days. He hated them, he hated listening to his grandmother crying her heart out, he hated seeing less and less Weasley/Potter heads in the crowd, he hated knowing he'd never see that person again. After he pointed out that he was of age and should be treated more like a grown up, he ended up stuck with Vale for the event. Not what he'd had in mind. The strange toddler just kept a toy car hugged to his chest and never shed a tear, Albus almost missed being young enough to not understand or have to worry about anything like Vale. Kid had it easy. Except for the dead people in his life anyway.

After the funeral, it was back to the Burrow for close friends and family to drink – for everyone of age except Albus apparently – and fondly reminisce more personally, Freddie and Louis trying to sing a rendition of their grandfather's favorite muggle son. It wasn't until very late that his mum finally let them Floo home, she also told Albus to go upstairs and change so his dad could take him back to Hogwarts. Vern and Lily got to stay until morning but he couldn't because he had stupid apparation lessons, he thought of that as he was changing. He'd kept it together all funeral, all day but thinking of that made him realize his grandfather wouldn't be alive to see him get his license. For some reason that made him snap, he curled up under his bed covers and cried. It wasn't fair, so what if his grandfather had been old? Old people weren't supposed to just suddenly die! He cried, utterly lost in the river of tears and snot mingling down his face.

"Al? Aunt Ginny wants you to hurry up," Vern's voice questioned, surprising Albus as he remembered there was an initial reason he'd gone up there, "It's late."

"I wasn't crying!" Albus blurted out as he popped his head up out of the covers and hastily wiped his sleeve across his face although instead of wiping away the liquids on his face, he felt as if he'd just spread them more and hung his face ashamedly.

"It's okay to be upset, you know?" Vern offered hesitantly but gently as he sat down on his bed beside Albus' own, "Loss hurts."

"I know, okay?!" Albus insisted and folded his arms childishly, not wanting his Dursley cousin to see him cry or console him, "I said I wasn't crying."

Vern raised an eyebrow.

"Well not because of that," Albus lied, not wanting to talk about. Especially not with Vern, he could hardly complain about his grandfather when the Hufflepuff had been orphaned.

"Was it because of Abby?" Vern inquired curiously and Albus was rather taken aback.

"Why would it be because of Abby?"

"Come on, isn't it obvious?" Vern prompted and Albus shook his head, "You hate Sequoia even though he's a really nice guy-"

"He's not a nice guy, just you wait!"

"You hated Corin as well when he dated her-"

"_He poisoned me with Laxative Potion!"_

"Yet you're on better terms with him now," Vern pointed out and Albus shut up, hadn't he just matured? He was mature, he was so mature, he was the most mature even. He was of age after all, "It's the principle of Abby dating you hate not the guys, you just don't want her to date anyone even if they were good."

"Well not anyone ever but I mean clearly she keeps picking jackasses and erm… is better off not dating right now, she's too young and not ready," Albus tried to protest awkwardly while Vern just looked at him, "I've known her since forever, I can just see what these particular guys are wrong for her. I don't want her to be hurt."

"And who's right for her? You?"

"No!" Albus gasped in shock, frantically waving his hands, "No! No! No! No! No! Merlin's ass, Vern, no! I've known her since babyhood, she's like my best friend, like a sister or another cousin who is not as annoying as Rose can be! I can't believe you'd even suggest even suggest such a thing, Abby? No! I don't like her, I hate her! I mean obviously I don't _hate_ her she's my friend but in a romantic way I hate her because it would be… just _weird_, Heather is the hot one in the family anyway. Abby is just… just Abby. Get your mind out of the gutter, pal."

"Whatever you say, Al," Vern shrugged and lay down on his bed, "Now are you going to finish getting changed and going downstairs? Because I am kind of tired."

"What? Oh yeah," Albus muttered as he recalled again he was supposed to be going, Vern rolled his eyes at him, "Hey! Don't you roll your eyes at me, Hufflepuff, we Gryffindors like to be fashionably late."

"Fashionably in more trouble is like it," Vern joked and Albus threw his pillow at him, Vern pushed it away and wrinkled his face in disgust, "Gross! This has your snot on it!"

"Well it serves you right," Albus scoffed as he hastily finished changing although he smiled slightly to himself inwardly, despite being completely wrong Vern had managed to take his mind of things. He didn't remember his brother ever actually doing that, "See you tomorrow."

"See you."

Albus threw his pillow back onto his bed and went to clean up, he _definitely_ didn't want his mum and dad to know he'd been crying. How babyish was that? Then he went downstairs and found the strangest sight as he walked into the kitchen about to call to his mum, his dad sitting at the kitchen table. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, after all his dad was taking him back since he needed to use the fireplace in his office but it was the fact his dad had a bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand.

"Whassup Al?" his dad said in a heavily slurred tone as Albus cautiously approached the rare sight.

"Erm… What are you doing?" Albus wondered in confusion.

"Tekin' a night off for once in nevner, what'd'ya think?" his dad told him before breaking down into tears, "Is hard, Al, it's hard to fight a war. I thought… I thought I was doing okay and then _my best friend stabs me in the back_. Stabs me, _right through to the heart_. Thirty freaking years of friendship, defeating the dark damnest dark lord that ever did exist together and he turns on me. How could he do that? How could this happen? How did I miss my friend falling into the shadows? What did I do, Al? Oh Dumbledore, please tell me."

"Dad, I'm your son not Dumbledore," Albus pointed out and patted his dad awkwardly on the shoulder, his dad stopped crying and squinted at him through his spectacles.

"Oh right, Daddy's had a little too much tipsy juice. Go back to bed, dear," his dad waved him off and Albus had just turned when he started crying again, "Oh go, why don't you! Go and vanish just like… just like… just like…"

"James?" Albus provided as he turned back to him.

"Just like James!" his dad sobbed, "Why can I defeat Voldemort but I can't protect my own son?! My firstborn son, my sweet little boy with violent bullying tendagocies. I can't even help my best friend to not turn evil, what kind of man am I? I can't even stop elderly men from having heart attacks, everyone can do that!"

"I don't think they can, Dad."

"I can't even end a war that's spanning countries," his dad continued as if he hadn't spoken, choking up again, "I couldn't even protect Flan. And then Alaric warned me, he said- he said- he said 'Harry, don't tell Ron and Cel' and what did I do? I told Ron and Cel. Because I trusted them, I trusted them like an idiot, I _trusted_ people."

"It's not wrong to trust people."

"I first met Flan when he was five years old," his dad continued once more as if he were a mute, holding up his hands to an empty chair to show the number, "'Twas at a fundraiser that the Ministry did to raise money for the rebuilt the world from you-know- well _you_-don't-really-know-who since you never met him. My mentor's son, he told me to watch him while his boss had to go to the bathroom or… I forget but... but he says-he says- he says 'Harry, you protect my son' and what did I do? Twenty-five years later, I did not protect him. Because I trusted Ron, I _trusted_ my best friend- _Never_ trust your best friend, Alba- Albananus. _Never_."

"Never," Albus muttered quietly and his dad nodded in approval as he wiped at his tears, thinking about Abby.

"Y'know even then Flan wanted to help people, he lived in Hogsmeade, he was close to the action. He gave all his allowance to the fundraiser, all five Knuts of it which was a lot for a little kid with nothing. The people with the least to give, tend give the most. Just the Weasleys gave me a home with already one, two, three… five? Merlie knows how many mouths to feed whereas the rich Dursleys never did," his dad continued and looked saddened, "And you know what? I keep thinking of what horrible things those monsters are doing to him, trying to torture out Calderon's location and… and I keep seeing him as that five year old kid who just wanted to help people, who was happy and innocent. Who does that to a five year old kid? What kind of person am I? Why did I let him do it?"

"What do you mean Calderon's location? Leebin's the one who knows?" Albus questioned and his dad's face drained of color, his emerald eyes shifted to the bottle and he slowly put it down.

"I think I've had enough to say and I've said drink too much."

* * *

**Part 3: **Appearing and Disappearing

* * *

Scorpius enjoyed his time with Molly even if she didn't really have any new news on Antonius, she had to leave earlier then he would've ideally liked but it gave him to buy up on Valentine's gifts and hang out with Corin and Orous. Maurice had apparently better things to do and left them earlier. Scorpius felt incredibly guilty on the walk back though, there he was having fun talking to his girlfriend while Antonius was still a prisoner. He felt like a horrible person and he felt even worse when he walked back into his dormitory to see Michael.

"What's up?" Michael greeted him with an unfortunately familiar slur in his words.

"Michael, are you drunk?" Scorpius questioned of him immediately.

"Yes, I found a spell to turn water into wine so suck it," Michael spat out drunkenly and irritably as he tried to keep his balance sitting on his bed, "I can not drink if I want and I can drink if I want so don't think you can around controlling my life and burning my permission slips! I'm an _adult_, my parents had me when I was this age so I can do my own life things!"

"Dammit, Michael!"

Scorpius felt a mixture of anger, upset and hurt that Michael had gotten drunk. He also thought Maurice took blame in this, he wasn't sure how it would've gone if he'd been in Hogsmeade but he knew it had clearly gone badly now. He couldn't even talk to Michael, he started to storm off but returned momentarily to snatch Michael's wand so he couldn't make any more alcohol and locked the door so he couldn't wander around drunk. Maurice however wasn't particularly remorseful, seeming his usual neutral self at dinner.

"Not my fault," Maurice shrugged it off dismissively, "I wanted to do some research and try find Antonius, I couldn't be dealing with Michael's drinking problem. You should deal with it, you're his best friend."

"Maurice- Wait, what?" Scorpius changed his sentence, rage switching to hope, "Did you find anything?"

"No," Maurice admitted and his rage returned.

"Then dammit, Maurice!"

He was in a bad mood by the time he retired to bed, Michael having already fallen asleep and his other roommates quite annoyed by the locked door. He fell into a horrible nightmare about Antonius handcuffed to a bed while James peeled his skin off, he woke up with a scream which also startled Michael awake and caused his friend to thud off the bed. He heard Michael groan while he sat there, bolt upright and breathing heavily with his sweat plastering his hair to his head. Sunlight was streaming innocently through the windows, that made him think it was late. That and the fact his other roommates were gone. Scorpius rubbed at his head, trying to push the horrible dream from his head.

"What's the…" Michael started to question sleepily before the sound of vomiting could be heard, just what he wanted to hear first thing in the morning.

"You brought this upon yourself," Scorpius commented unsympathetically, not in the mood to deal with it. Especially not when they were starting apparation lessons later.

He got himself up, washed, dressed and then had to get Michael up and on the path to do the same since he fell back asleep in the pool of his own puke while Scorpius was gone. He had to practically drag Michael down to breakfast, who cringed at the noise as he rubbed at his temples. Abby and Rose were already there due to also being ready to start apparation but surprisingly Albus – who Scorpius thought was supposed to have come back last night read for apparation – joined the non-apparaters in arriving late.

"Hey guys!" Albus greeted them cheerfully and Michael flinched.

"Talk quieter," Michael moaned as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Stop drinking," Rose countered testily, "Honestly, why did you guys let him get drunk?"

"Apparently he can't be left alone," Corin shrugged before smiling at his girlfriend and leaning down – very much so due to his height – to kiss her in greeting.

"Anyway, guess what I found out," Albus blurted out excitedly.

"Weren't you supposed to come back last night?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"Yes but Dad got too drunk, bad for that but good for informat-"

"It's not good for anyone, Vern and I were looking forward to our lie in but because you took so long we had to be at the crack of dawn instead," Lily complained from nearby, throwing a scowl at her brother, "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Albus brushed it off, "So when my dad was drunk last night, he spilled something very interesting."

"Beer?" Michael wondered stupidly.

"_Information_. I know why the Shadows took Leebin, he's the one who knows Calderon's location."

"Room," Maurice snapped, glaring at the older boy, "We need to discuss things like this in the Room That Doesn't Exist so it's away from eager ears, not to blurt it out at breakfast."

"No one's listening and that's pretty much it, he clammed up and sent me to bed as soon as he realized he'd said it," Albus admitted with a hint of disappointment before perking up again excitedly, "But isn't that great? We know why! And_ I_ was the one to find out. Me. Albus Potter. I did something useful."

"So what do you want, a medal?" Maurice questioned and Albus looked slightly disheartened.

"We can pass it on to Aaron but it doesn't really help us much anyway," Scorpius added with a shrug that made Albus look even more disheartened, "It doesn't help us save Antonius, it doesn't help us save Leebin, it doesn't even help us save Calderon since we need Leebin to get to him."

"Assuming they haven't moved him already."

"Oh, right," Albus muttered and rested his head on his hand sadly.

"Still good to know," Abby offered gently and Albus threw her an oddly angry look, "Aren't you going to eat any breakfast?"

"We ate at home."

"No, we didn-"

"Shut up, Lily!" Albus snapped at his sister and the girl fell into stony silence, "So who's looking forward to apparation?"

"Do we have to?" Michael wondered as he rubbed his head, "That cracking sound is loud and it's not like I'll be able to do it."

"What makes you say that?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"Because not everyone masters spells immediately like you and Maurice do," Rose supplied usefully.

* * *

_Carver was delighted to be home, no more classes and work, he could play and he had his mum back… He'd almost forgotten how difficult it could be with his mum. She expected him to be well-behaved much like in his school except she had strange thoughts on what he should know, she seemed annoyed he still couldn't bathe himself and upset he didn't know how to cook or clean. What school did she think he went to? She didn't seem interested in hearing about what he actually was learning, she was glad he could read though but didn't like that he couldn't read all of the words like the long complicated ones he was still learning and learning the meaning of. Carver didn't see why she was bothered, she didn't know what they meant either and if she didn't know then how would he?_

_She still didn't like playing with him either, telling him to grow up already and stop being childish. She still didn't like hugging him either, telling him he was being too clingy. He also no longer liked bedtimes, his dad always tucked him in and gave him a kiss goodnight but his mum just told him to go to bed then got mad if he wandered back downstairs. He didn't complain though, it was still better than being in the school with all his mean classmates when he had to do stuff constantly and rarely got to play. Aside from all that, Carver thought things were better. He had been taught to behave better so she didn't tend to get upset with him things like that, he felt guilty for being unhappy sometimes still. _

_They may get on better but they still weren't really close, even less close then he was to his dad. He was starting to notice that about his dad, he'd tuck him in at night, play with him, cuddle him and talk to him but he didn't listen. For Christmas he asked for a toy broomstick, asking both his parents repeatedly. He didn't get it, his mum said she hadn't noticed he asked and his dad didn't even seem to notice him complaining about the lack of his toy broomstick. Ethan always listened to him though, Ethan was good like that. Carver desperately tried to improve the relationship with both his parents, he was nice to precious Viola that his dad loved and he did his best to keep everything neat and tidy like his mum liked. Neither seemed to notice the effort on his part, they still didn't seem to listen to him._

_It was all for naught though, in the winter his mum introduced him to her friend Henry. He said he'd leave if Carver stayed, trying to be good Carver left the room since he thought his mum would rather talk to her friend Henry then him. The room wasn't good enough though and she decided he should go back to the Training Tower again, he felt his little heart shattering again. Hadn't he been trying hard enough? Why did he have to go away? He was dumped back into class, smack bang in the time in between his and Ethan's birthdays when they were in a different class where he was back to being taunted and teased behind his back. He hated them, he hated all of them. People were just jerks. At least his mum sent him a card this time for his fifth birthday and he was moved back up into Ethan's class, at least Ethan would never get fed up with him. Would he? He seemed quieter than usual._

_And Carver would find out why as he was introduced to torture class, where they were taught to resist giving up information to the enemy. Finally, Carver understood why his classmates acted like idiots. The pain was worse than anything he'd ever found his small brain was capable of imaging, he felt like he'd never stop shaking. His dad cuddled him afterwards but promised it was necessary, that it was better in the long run and he was getting it less often than the other students so he could hardly complain. So Carver didn't complain, he just cried and wished he was good enough for his mum to love him._

_"Of course you're good enough, Carver," Ethan assured him one of the days when he caught him crying and pulled him into a hug that Carver returned desperately as he cried into his shoulder, "You didn't do anything wrong, it's not your fault you were born. Your mum is the one who is acting wrong. She wanted you back before, she will again. You'll see and then you'll be away from that horrible spell."_

_"I h-hate it s-so much," Carver sobbed into his older but smaller brother's shoulders._

_"I know, Carve, I know."_

_Ethan proved to be spectacularly correct when his mum turned around again and decided she wanted him back, not long after Viola's third birthday. Her friend had left now so it was okay for him to go back, he didn't get as enthusiastic a greeting but he hadn't expected one. His mum just wasn't as excited about his return as he ever was, at least he was away from the torture curse and he could try live up to his mum's high standards. Carver had learned more stuff, not about cooking and cleaning though. He'd very much like to do the former, he loved food. Despite Carver's best efforts, the relationship with his mum remained strained. In fact when he tried to do things she wanted it just made it worse, he tried to cook after seeing her do it and ended up making inedible lumps and a mess. _

_Regardless, she didn't send him away. They had a lovely Christmas – or at least until Carver threw up from eating too much, much to his mum's chagrin – and she didn't send him away in the winter. Spring dawned and he spent his sixth birthday with her for the first time in what felt like a long time, a month after that he got yet another sister, Martha. Carver didn't see why his dad insisted he meet her, Viola had taken years before she could play or speak with him properly and even then he thought she was quite annoying. Carver saw much less of his siblings though while he was living with his mum._

_He was really starting to relax into his new home life as spring turned back to summer then fall marking a whole year he'd been back with his mum. He could just play and have fun, he didn't have to worry about learning and boring stuff. His relationship with his mum continued to be strained though, it was like the longer he was there the more frustrated she'd get over things that annoyed. The longer he was there the more he relaxed he also got and stopped putting so much effort into making her happy, it wasn't like she'd ever be satisfied anyway. In general she seemed quite unhappy, she complained constantly about hating her job and left him with babysitters to go on dates – not the tasty kind Carver could eat – that she seemed upset never seemed to work out. Maybe he thought he should've paid more attention._

_As the new year dawned, Carver was introduced to yet another baby much to his immense frustration. Martha was still a baby, why did his dad have to go and have another one?! Where did he even get these things? This one was a boy apparently called Andreas, not that it made even the slightest bit of difference to Carver. It was still a small, boring lump of flesh, it was just dressed in a different colored onesie. At least Martha could crawl, even that seemed a pretty lame accomplishment to Carver. The next month after a failed Valentine's Day, his mum also decided he should go back to the Training Tower. Carver once again was crushed but this time the abandonment left a bitter taste in his mouth and a spark of anger in his heart._

* * *

They finished their breakfast, the others chatting about the funeral before clearing out so they could prepare the Great Hall for the apparation lesson. They filed back in shortly to find the tables were now gone and the Heads of House had assembled, Professors Longbottom, Vipera, Koray and Oring, along with Cistro the Auror who hated him. Suddenly, Scorpius was not looking as forward to apparation lessons. It was a useful skill to have though and much easier then he thought if Annie and Austin were anything to go by, if he could get it quickly then he could drop the class until the end. He was thinking of that when he noticed Professor Longbottom approaching them, Scorpius thought for his daughter but it was Maurice that he stopped by.

"I'm sorry, Maurice, but you can't be here," Professor Longbottom told him, Maurice looked rather offended but the teacher continued before he could protest, "I know you're extremely talented and taking Sixth Year classes but apparation is strictly an age thing, not to do with year. You'll have to come next year when you're the right age."

"But that's hardly fair," Maurice protested, "I have every right to learn apparation, I'm the best in the year."

"Well I can't change the law, I'm sorry," Professor Longbottom offered apologetically and Maurice stalked off without another word, the professor smiled at his daughter and patted her on the shoulder, "Good luck, sweetie."

"Thanks, Dad," Abby said nervously but gratefully before he went back to the front of the class, only then did Cistro clear her throat.

"Morning, I am Lead Auror at Hogwarts Syntyche Cistro," Cistro began as she surveyed them all with a look more fitting to a suspect then a student, "Normally apparation and disapparation are not possible within Hogwarts, it has been removed only in the Great Hall for an hour for this class so remember to be on time. Considering the potential risk this causes in these dire times, as an extra precaution I will be teaching this class and there are several Aurors outside in case. Don't worry, I passed my test first try with ease age seventeen and I have been given a course on how to teach it anyway so you should still be prepared when the twelve weeks are up for your test even though this is not my usual job

"For any idiots out there who didn't research what they signed up, apparation is a magical method of transformation. Disappearing from one place – disapparating – and appearing in another – apparating – almost instantly, it is a wandless use of magic thus very difficult anyway and very dangerous as insufficient focus causes splinching. This is when random body parts are separated, it can be minimal to life-threatening depending on how bad it is so this is one class where it is dangerous to not pay attention," Cistro concluded darkly and looked at them as if daring someone to not listen to her, "So anyway, I'd like you to place yourselves so you have a clear five foot space in front of you. Your Heads of House will help."

The silence was broken as everyone started moving around, the Heads of House dividing them up house and spacing them out quite nicely. Cistro just stood at the front, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. When they were done, Cistro waved her wand and conjured four boxes of that she handed out to each of the House Heads who started to hand out contents. Scorpius was surprised and even more so when Professor Longbottom handed him a lump of chalk, he wasn't the only one looking confused.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Knight spoke up nervously and she threw him a glare.

"That's Lead Auror Cistro," Cistro corrected him, "And I'm not taking questions. Everyone draw an outline of a shape large enough for you to stand in in the five foot space in front of you then step back into your position."

"It's just my grandparents mentioned hoops?" Knight blurted out still in confusion as the hall started to obey, "Why are we drawing?"

"Because part of apparation is choosing where you want to go, an area you yourself marked is more noticeable to you then a generic hoop. Now do it or leave the Great Hall."

Knight obliged as did everyone else, some doing basic shapes and some trying to make them more memorable. Scorpius was torn between a basic circle and the more memorable triangle, ultimately ending up with a kind of shield shape mixture of the both of them, he hoped it would serve him well as he stepped back into place.

"Alright so when learning to apparate, you need to bear in mind the three D's: Destination, Determination, Deliberation," Cistro continued when everyone was done, counting them off on her fingers as she spoke, "Step one: Destination. For this class, it's the shape you drew in front of you. Concentrate now, focus on your destination. I'm not your destination, look at the bloody floor! Listen with your ears, not with your eyes."

Everyone hastily turned their attention to the ground, staring at their shapes and trying to focus on such a thing. Scorpius used a trick Leebin had taught him to clear his mind first, trying to eliminate all thoughts other than his strange shield-shaped destination.

"Step two: Determination. Like with all you magic, you have to want to do it. So want it. Yearn for it. Desire it. Be determined to be at your destination,_ feel_ that determination," Cistro spoke up after a moment to allow them to do that, Scorpius flooded his mind with determination to do it, "Finally, step three: Deliberation. When I give the word, turn on the spot and feel your way into nothingness. Move with deliberation into your location, apparate there like your life depends on it because some day it may do. NOW!"

Collectively the hall seemed to spin on the spot, several people fell over including Albus knocking into Abby. He scrambled off her so quickly and desperately that he accidentally shoved her back down on the ground when she also tried to get up, he stared off into his… blob shape with a red face as if nothing had happened. Abby could only throw him a slightly confused scowl as Michael helped her up, no one seemed to have apparated.

"It's alright, it tends to take a while," Cistro shrugged it off, sounding quite bored, "Now again, let's go back to step one…"

And they did but again nothing happened, Scorpius was really quite upset. He thought he was doing it right, it wasn't like him to fail at something. The third try there was a loud bang and Scorpius looked around in confusion to see who had gotten it before he had, he was surprised to see everyone else was standing around away from their chalk shapes. The teachers seemed equally confused by this as they looked around, no one seemed to have done it and even if they had done it on the spot then someone had to have felt the effects of it.

"I guess someone must have splinched a piece of hair or something," Cistro said finally, "Anyway, again."

This time there was another crack, only this it wasn't nothing and the cause was immediately obvious. Knight was screaming as he stood inside a chalk outline, his shoulder streaming blood while his arm lay back on the ground on his original spot. The teachers rushed to help him – Michael also tried before realizing they were dealing with it – and seemed to reattach it, the boy continued to look rather shaken though. There was a couple more splinching incidents but no one else Scorpius knew and no one at all managed to successfully apparate, not even Scorpius. He was really quite surprised as he trailed out with his friends.

"So how was it?" Rose questioned of them excitedly as they left.

"Too loud," Michael complained tiredly but Rose seemed unconcerned.

"Once I think I felt a tingling in my feet!"

"I didn't feel anything," Albus admitted with a sigh, "As usual, I suck."

"I got nothing either," Abby pointed out before shooting him a dark look, "Apart from you falling on me. You could have said sorry."

"Oh right, well sorry. I didn't think about it, I was too busy thinking of Ds."

"I can't believe I didn't do it," Scorpius pointed out, feeling genuinely surprised and annoyed with himself, "I mean it was a whole hour and nothing, I didn't even splinch myself."

"Holy mother of Merlin! You went a whole class without making progress?! Stop the presses, call the Minister!" Albus gasped in mock shock before dropping it to switch to a blunt tone, "Welcome to the real world. This is what it's like for people who aren't you."

"Michael, come with me," Maurice's voice hissed and they all jumped in surprise, spinning just in time to catch the swish of his cloak vanishing into an empty classroom.

They followed him in and suddenly the disembodied bang from earlier made sense, Maurice was throwing the invisibility cloak off himself. It was soaked in blood and so was Maurice himself, his right shoulder was a bloody mess and seemed to be holding on by threats of flesh. He half-collapsed onto a seat and Michael rushed to help him, Maurice's face was ashen as he continued breathing heavily as Michael tended to him.

"What the hell, Maurice?!" Michael snapped at him.

"You took my cloak!" Albus screamed as he rushed to the bloody fabric.

"I imagine you people are wondering what happened," Maurice managed to get out, half through teeth clenched against the pain, "I took Al's cloak and went back in to learn how to apparate since it seemed unfair, I just had to use mental lines of chalk but hey_ I_ did it and I did it before everyone else a year older them me so there! I just destroyed my shoulder in the process, I had to tend to it, magically make sure it wasn't audibly or visually obvious what I did so I wouldn't get in trouble. I basically sat there bleeding in agony the rest of the damn hour, now I'm feeling like my head is full of air instead of brain matter and standing makes my legs wobbly."

"Well it serves you right for being an idiot!" Rose snapped at him while Maurice's body drooped sleepily as if he was struggling for consciousness, "This is serious!"

"You people know that I can't understand you without my necklace, righ…" Maurice trailed off as his body went limp.

"He's just unconscious," Michael offered quickly as he stood, "Come on, let's get him to Marigold. I don't have the resources to treat this, he didn't get immediate treatment and needs potions now."

* * *

**Part 4: **The Assassin

* * *

They took Maurice to the Hospital Wing and left him in the capable hands of Marigold, he assured them Maurice would be fine in a few days to recover from the blood loss. Scorpius was relieved although somewhat concerned, if Maurice had also failed to apparate – although he had made more progress than Scorpius since he splinched himself – then it must be difficult. How long would it take?

"I'm going to try wash the blood off my cloak," Albus grumbled as they returned to their dormitory, the Potter boy heading into the bathroom with the bloodstained cloak.

"Finally, quiet," Michael said with a sigh of relief as he threw himself back down onto his own bed and rubbed his forehead, his eyes drifting closed.

"Finally quiet," Scorpius repeated and scowled at him, "Michael, you have a problem. I'm sorry Maurice burned your Hogsmeade slip but dammit, you can't keep drinking. You of all people know the damage it can do, to yourself, to the people around you."

"I don't care, it makes me feel better," Michael muttered disinterestedly and rolled onto his side, "Just leave me alone, I'm tired."

"It doesn't make you feel better, it only temporarily messes with your brain so you_ think_ you feel better but you don't."

"I know, I'll still take it," Michael shrugged with a yawn as he closed the drapes, "Night."

Scorpius stalked off in frustration, silently cursing whoever invented alcohol and went to go plan some Quidditch practices to try take his mind off things. Their match against Hufflepuff was only a fortnight away, it had been switched with the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match because of the proximity to the full moon so they had less time. He was very nervous about the match, he'd failed to catch the Snitch in his last game and this time he'd be up against his friend, Orous, both as Seeker and Captain. It was his twin who took issue with him though he realized the next day when they foolishly thought to visit their friend in the Hospital Wing, the deaf boy was furious at them for taking him to Marigold and getting him in trouble as the Headmaster had personally taken fifty points plus detentions until Easter.

"How long is Maurice going to be in the Hospital Wing?" Lorcan demanded of him on the way to the way back to the Great Hall for breakfast, "The killer could still be and probably is still out there, without Maurice to protect us we're vulnerable. Especially Lysander."

"It's just a few days, just be careful and hopefully it'll be okay," Scorpius offered, he hadn't even thought of that although nothing had happened yesterday so maybe the killer and Shadow needed more time than they had to plan their attacks.

"Hopefully doesn't keep my brother alive!" Lorcan snapped angrily.

"Why are you mad at me? Maurice is the one who snuck into apparation class and splinched himself," Scorpius insisted and Lorcan sighed, rubbing at the black circles beneath his amber eyes, "I can try go around with you if you want but Maurice is the one who knows what to look for."

"I'm sorry, I'm just really worried," Lorcan admitted before walking off back to his waiting twin, Lysander looking much less concerned and quite happy but then he usually did.

It seemed that Lorcan's worries were unfounded though as there were no attempts on any of their lives over the tense next few days while Maurice was recovering, not that Scorpius was complaining. The days passed uneventfully and on Wednesday, Maurice was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing and return to classes as usual. It was only then that he was approached by another under Maurice's protection, also on the way to breakfast.

"Hey Scorpius!" a voice he hadn't heard in a while called and Scorpius turned in surprise, leaving Albus' complaints about Valentine's Day tomorrow going unheard. Martha bounded over to him, looking exceedingly nervous.

"Hey," Scorpius offered politely but uncomfortably, becoming acutely aware of her crush and the fact it was Valentine's Day tomorrow. He didn't really want to have to have to awkwardly reject an eleven year old, he also felt somewhat bad. He'd meant to see how she was doing ages ago but had forgotten in the wake of learning about Antonius' abduction, "How are you do-"

"C-Can I talk to you in private?" Martha blurted out nervously before he could finish his sentence, he spared a glance to Michael and Albus who both shrugged.

"Err… Sure," Scorpius agreed hesitantly and followed the small girl, dreading rejecting her as she led him into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. Then locked it, locked it magically and cast a charm eavesdropping charm, maybe a little too much for a simple crush, "Martha, what's going on? Did something happen?"

"Okay," Martha said as she took a deep breath, pacing around nervously for a minute before stopping to pick at her fingernails instead before she abandoned that to finally look at him, "Do… Do you remember how someone was trying to kill you and the Scamanders? For a while your friends thought it was me before I was attacked by the Shadows for the same reason. Well… They were right."

"Wh- Th- _You?!"_ Scorpius stammered out in shock and Martha nodded ashamedly, "Wha- Why?! Why would you do that?!"

"Because Pyrrhus Florian wants you dead," Martha admitted, staring off unhappily, "I don't know a lot, okay? We decided it was best to keep me in the dark in case I was found out. He has a plan to kill the Shadow Master and to do that, you three have to die because of the wrist connection unless there's some other way to sever it."

"Why just us? Why not Orous and Maurice?"

"I don't know, I was only told you and the Scamanders."

"Well what about Antonius? Why did he take Antonius?!" Scorpius demanded of her, feeling increasingly angry, "Why is Jack helping him?"

"I don't know, he never mentioned that stuff to me. Like I said, the less I know the better."

"Well how could you even do that?!" Scorpius spat at her furiously while she continued not looking at him, "I saved your life, I helped you, I defended you and all this time you were trying to _kill_ me?! Kill the Scamanders?! You sabotaged my best friend's Wolfsbane! Don't you know how much it hurt him to go nuts like that!? And you're the reason Hugo became a werewolf!"

"I know," Martha muttered quietly, "Michael suspected me, I thought if I used him then it would get him expelled or take his mind off me. None of my plans worked the way I meant or wanted."

"You're sick!" Scorpius snapped and angrily kicked a random chair off to the side, Martha said nothing and something else occurred to him, "Why are you even telling me this?! Is this a trap!? Are you-"

"I'm telling you because you saved my life when you shouldn't have, I didn't deserve it and I feel like I owe you the truth," Martha explained, still without looking at him, "This isn't a trap, this is just the truth."

"Why should I believe you?"

"If I was trying to kill you right now, don't you think I'd be doing something other than staring at my shoes?" Martha countered and Scorpius supposed that was a fair point, he swallowed and tried to take his anger with it to speak to her calmly.

"Are you even still trying to kill us?" Scorpius asked curiously and she gave a kind of vague half-shrug, either not sure of the answer herself or just didn't want to tell him, "Why are you even working with Florian? You know he murdered your father, right?"

"I know," Martha admitted and pain flickered in her eyes, "I loved my dad, really I did and I miss him every day but as much as I hate what Pyrrhus did, I want this war to end. Pyrrhus actually has a plan for that."

"A plan you don't even know?"

"One of my siblings is also on board and knows the whole thing, they wouldn't be if it wasn't plausible," Martha explained with a shrug and moved to leave, Scorpius grabbed her wrist to hold her back though, "I've told you all I wanted to say, I've answered your questions."

"Well what's to stop me turning you in? You confessed to trying to kill me, I'm not just going to let you go," Scorpius insisted seriously, "What's to stop me taking you to the headmaster or getting Maurice in here to torture information out of you?"

"Then do it," Martha told him disinterestedly.

Scorpius seriously did for a minute before deciding against it, she was more useful alive and available to them captured or killed by the Shadows – undoubtedly what turning her in would eventually end in – plus he was against Maurice torturing information out of people. Despite what she'd done, he was still angry with her. Scorpius pushed her away and Martha removed the charms before leaving, her head hung miserably as she walked. Scorpius left as well and returned to the Gryffindor table, seeing Orous walking away.

"Why was Orous here?" Scorpius asked distractedly as he sat down.

"Seeing if I was okay," Maurice spat irritably, "No thanks to you people, turning me in."

"Would you rather have bled to death?" Rose countered.

"I would rather you people have improvised, in war you don't give your allies away to the enemy just because they have better medical facilities," Maurice grumbled and Scorpius sighed to himself, hoping he wasn't doing the wrong thing in telling Maurice.

"Well anyway, I know who was trying to kill the Scamanders so I propose heading off to the Room That Doesn't Exist after classes to discuss the matter," Scorpius announced and his friends heads swiveled to him in surprise, they opened their mouths but he held up his hand to silence them, "Not in public, remember?"

"Just because you listen to me sometimes, doesn't mean I forgive you for getting me in trouble."

* * *

_Xerxes was quite pleased with his daughter, it felt like a while since he'd had a newborn to care for and not since Ethan had he had a motherless child. As far as babies went, she was pretty easy to care for and not very difficult much to his relief. She started sleeping through the night at just a month old so to celebrate and end his unfortunate time of celibacy, he got Pyrrhus to watch her one of the nights. His since his deaf charge slept through the night so it was easy for him to leave and he was doing a decent job with Maurice, it was the first time he let his brother meet one of his children. He was getting older now, he was more capable. _

_In hindsight, Xerxes thought he took celebrating too far as he ended up getting completely wasted but remembered fragments of the night with a young beautiful dark-skinned girl with deep chocolate eyes and brown curls. He didn't think much of the one night stand and returned to the Training Tower, continuing to teach and care for his baby girl. A letter arrived one of the days and he was glad the girl had thought to mention the date and night because he hadn't remembered her name was Josslyn Webb, she informed him she was pregnant with his child and wanted to speak with him about child support as well as if he wanted anything to do with raising it since she'd decided to keep it. Xerxes was rather surprised but quite pleased after the hassle with Brenna, Josslyn's approach was very welcome._

_He wrote back and met with her and made arrangements, agreeing to give her money and working out shared custody quite pleasantly. He was actually quite excited for his sixth child, it would be his first mixed-race child and his first with a muggle-born mother. Life continued, he was still quite busy with Martha and was careful with his liquor on his nights off. Carver's mother Maeghan was being antsy again, he didn't understand why she had so much trouble with Carver. She had one child to deal with, he had almost six yet he had no trouble. Clearly it was as he'd always thought, he was just naturally an amazing father and far superior to her in regards to raising children. His son was born in January, after a bit of debate he was allowed to pick the first name but Josslyn got the middle and last name so Andreas Aiden Webb it was. He considered it a fair deal, the first name was the most important one._

_Andreas proved to take after his mother, inheriting her chocolate eyes and curly brown hair but his face shape was Xerxes. His skin tone settled somewhere in the middle of both of them, lighter than Josslyn but darker than Xerxes leaving a mocha skinned baby. Xerxes found him adorable, he was quite a bubbly, smiley baby and the joint custody gave both him and Josslyn a break which was good for him considering he still had Martha to deal with. He also still had Carver's frustrating mother who ultimately sent him back to the Training Tower, Xerxes wished the bitch would just make her mind up, it was quite tedious and could she not see he was busy with Martha and Andreas right now? Babies required more work than children._

_The next few years proved to be quite hectic for him, juggling Martha and Andreas while still having time for his other kids. He also became incredibly anxious when he was told the other staff intended for Stephan to take the test at just eleven, he wanted to make it easier for him but the others and the boy's mother both insisted he was ready. Apparently, he was at the top of his class. Did Xerxes know how to make babies or what? Of course his children would be talented, he didn't know why this surprised him. Still he found himself doing nothing but pacing around with Martha while Stephan was taking the test in the dead of winter, the little girl sleeping peacefully and oblivious to the fact her brother's life was on the line. Finally, he was given the good news, that Stephan had passed the test. He was so proud, Stephan had done brilliantly and clearly he got it from Xerxes himself. He took it upon himself to start teaching Stephan Legilimency and Occlumency, thinking his son would share in his talent despite his young age. He didn't prove to disappoint, he didn't master it immediately but he proved better than most adults and Xerxes made a mental note to teach all his children this._

_Martha turned two in the new year and he started her on the Training Tower, freeing up his time considerably to focus on teaching Stephan – and spending time with Viola since she was his firstborn girl, his special little princess – and his son seemed happy to have more time with him. He was quite pleased to notice the pre-teen was already starting to notice girls, dating was discouraged as a distraction but nonetheless it was normal and he wanted his children to be able to date, have children of their own so his bloodline would continue. Maybe not right now and not with the other Soul Eater brain-washed zombies but at some point, he was slightly concerned by the violent streak he noticed from Stephan's memories but he supposed it came with being raised a soldier. He actually introduced him to Pyrrhus as well, thinking he was old enough to hopefully not be influence by the lunatic._

_Carver turned eight and Maeghan decided she wanted him back yet again so Xerxes obliged, only for her to change her mind a few freaking months later. Damn, that woman was annoying. Josslyn was much better, with promised breaks like a regular school she allowed Andreas to start at the Training Tower. He was really the only one Xerxes had had to compromise with, he had full control over Ethan and Martha, Viola pretty much since her mother still was somewhat obsessed with him, Senna was also a Soul Eater and very much wanted Stephan to be trained as well then Maeghan just fluctuated from no contact to full custody. At first it was quite nice having control over his free time without babies to juggle but as the year wore on, he started to really miss it. He still spent time with his children of course because he was the perfect father but they hardly depended on him since they had everything going for them with the Training Tower, Stephan was even learning to apparate now. Xerxes was in his thirties now, was he losing his touch? Was he losing his fertility? He certainly wasn't losing his libido._

* * *

The meeting later went about as well as Scorpius had expected, thankfully he convinced Maurice to not go after her but he did rescind protecting her. Scorpius also ringed this information over to Varanian along with what he'd learned about Leebin from Albus, he'd forgotten to tell him. The more he thought about it as his anger faded the more he thought he could use it to his advantage, even if Martha didn't know where Florian was – which seemed likely considering he seemed to move a lot and Martha didn't know much of the plan – she might at least have some way to contact him. She might be their ticket to getting Antonius back, Scorpius just needed something to offer her other than their heads on a silver platter.

Actually he was also rather intrigued by Florian's supposed plan to rid the world of the Shadow Master, if it wasn't complete lunacy anyway. And if it wasn't, what if it was the only way? Was it possible to break the connection without the Shadow Master himself removing it or them dying? And if not… Did it mean the only way to stop the Shadow Master was to kill the Scamanders and then himself? He had more questions than answers and no way to get them, he still didn't know where Antonius and Jack fit into it either or why Florian had no interest in Alzay's twins. Scorpius couldn't think of anything but the scarred wrists he had in common with the Scamanders so that was the logical answer but Orous and Maurice had that too, did Orous' being severed briefly before or the fact Maurice's alone was unsealed make a difference? Were they really safe or was Florian planning something else with them that he just hadn't told Martha about? The Shadows still needed to be stopped, Syria fell that week and they didn't even wait a whole week before attacking New Zealand without the Inferi.

The rest of the week passed much more uneventfully aside from the fall of Syria, classes and Quidditch practices. Again they had an apparation lesson that Sunday – thankfully, Maurice couldn't and didn't sneakily attend this one due to the timing of his detention – but progress wasn't much better, a few incidences of splinching but none successful. And nothing on Scorpius' part again. That was_ two_ classes with no success, what was wrong with him? He wasn't looking forward to the next lesson but before that, he had a Quidditch match to get through. The week seemed fly by far too quickly and he exchanged plenty of nervous looks with Orous, both were working their teams hard to the point Sequoia half-jokingly complained about them hogging the pitch for practices.

There was also more shocking news with the Shadows though, Jerusalem was attacked despite the fact the assault continued on New Zealand on the other side of the world. This time with an army of Inferi and started the war for Israel coming in from both Lebanon and Egypt, both bordering countries so they were fighting on both ends. There was more news this time, the blackout of information not so complete when the Shadow Master wasn't personally involved. Both muggle and magical world leaders were getting antsy and debating involvement, countries in proximity to the war were apparently starting to freak out. The United States especially were starting talking about an assault, wanting to launch a missile strike on 'Shadow Territory' and the magical government trying to get them to calm down until they could locate the Shadow Master. It only furthered the point that they still had to be stopped, the war was raging and if Florian had a plan to stop it then Scorpius wanted to know what it was. He was starting to feel very frustrated with being stuck in Hogwarts, surely he could be doing something more useful than flying and studying while the world went to hell? It had been a cloudy February so far and the morning of the match, Scorpius awoke to a sheet of rain pouring down from the skies.

"The Shadow Master's trying to conquer the world faster," Maurice told them seriously at breakfast, "Syria was a test to see how the army did with the Shadow Master also helping, with Israel they're getting even more free reign. Ideally, he seems to want to be able to use his army independently of himself so Scepter or not they're a capable and serious threat capable of taking down countries. It'll work too, their army can move freely between most of the countries they control so they have resources and might to throw at Israel and can attack from two fronts because of Egypt. Any die join the army as an Inferi so every loss only adds to their numbers."

"Do you have to make it sound like defeat is so imminent?" Rose said with an anxious sigh.

"I'm just stating here facts and logical deductions based from them, it's not my fault things aren't looking good for the world."

"It's so much bigger than us," Albus commented quietly as he stirred at his oatmeal disinterestedly, "In my dad's time, it seemed so much more achievable and he was already the chosen one. We have no chosen one and its everywhere, how are we supposed to beat that?"

"Take out the Shadow Master for starters, take out the person controlling the masses of Inferi which is likely this Stephan person and the rest of the leadership," Maurice stated as if it was obvious, "Cut off the head and the snake will die, it may still writhe around a bit but it won't last so just keeping hitting it until it dies."

"You make it sound so easy," Rose sighed again and Maurice scowled at her.

"Again, it's just logic. And it's harder said than done, we don't know who either of this people are or where they are."

"Maybe we should ask Martha," Michael spoke up, lifting his head from his hands. He wasn't hungover – Scorpius had been careful to keep an eye on him – but still wracked with nerves before the match, he'd already thrown up twice.

"I'll be keeping an eye on her during the match to make sure she doesn't try anything," Maurice spoke up readily, "I could ask her."

"Maybe after the match _I'll_ ask her," Scorpius insisted as he wasn't sure if Maurice would ask with words or wands, he also Maurice a dark look as he opened his mouth, "And shut up about the war, we need to focus on the match right now."


	11. Chapter 11: Righting Wrongs

_**Parts (44-46)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 11  
**

Righting Wrongs

* * *

**Part 1:** Fighting For

* * *

Scorpius led his team down to the locker rooms, they were soaked through and their feet hadn't even left the ground yet. His team sat there twiddling their thumbs and looking at him somewhat expectantly for some reason, he straightened up abruptly as he recalled again that he was the Captain now. He cleared his throat.

"Today is our next match. Against Hufflepuff," Scorpius began awkwardly and noticed Michael slapping his hand to his face, "As you probably already knew. We won our first match against Slytherin in spite of the fact I didn't catch the Snitch, I think that goes to show that we have a strong team, that in spite of what some people might think there's more to Quidditch then just who catches it. If we could win then, we can win now!"

"But it's raining," Montague pointed out with a nod in the direction of the exit where rain could still be heard beating down on them, "Do we really have to play in the rain?"

"Of course we play in the bloody rain!" Kemen spoke up as if it were obvious, "Duty is not effected by the weather, my Dad says so and he's an Auror, one of the few trusted to guard the Shadow Master because he's that good."

"No way your Dad guards the Shadow Master," Rufus scoffed, "And besides, Calderon isn't even the Shadow Master. The guy's still out there destroying India."

"Israel," Albus corrected and the Keeper rolled his eyes.

"Whatever country it is this time. The point is he can't be the Shadow Master when there's another on the loose, clearly this Voldemort guy had more than one kid."

"There's more than one Shadow Master, obviously," Montague spoke up again, "He has others trained with this Scepter to make himself look innocent, Calderon's a mad genius."

"I-"

"Hey!" Scorpius snapped in frustration, first Maurice and now his team, "We need to focus on the match not the war right now, okay?!"

"Okay," the team collectively muttered like abashed children, looking once again nervous.

There was no time for another speech though as they were called onto the pitch, Scorpius led his team out and was rewarded by the rain whipping him as they walked across the slushy grass. The rain was affecting the Hufflepuffs too though, they were soaked through as well and he could see the water dripping down from Orous' frosty white hair as he shook hands with his friend amicably.

"Good luck," Orous whispered barely audibly over the heavy rain fall.

"You too," Scorpius added before they stepped back to their respective teams.

They mounted their brooms and waited, Scorpius blinking droplets of rain out of his eyes before Krum tossed the Quaffle and that match began. Michael dived in and grabbed it first, darting away with the slippery ball. He aimed for a quick goal to start them off but Vern darted in the way and batted it away with his broom first, saving the first shot of the match. It was far from the last and of all the positions, Keepers weren't faring as badly as others. Beaters had to peer through the rain to bat at fast moving balls, Seekers had to scan through it for the Snitch and Chasers had to toss around a ball slick from the rain. It was affecting them all, there were more missed swings and fumbling of the Quaffle then usual due to the heavy downpour on both sides while Scorpius and Orous both struggled to find the Snitch.

It was surprisingly actually Albus who scored the first goal of the match, even if it was done by accident when he missed a throw to Michael by several feet. It was equalized – intentionally – a few minutes later when one of the female Hufflepuff Chasers, something Smith, slipped one by Rufus and got in another not long after that. Michael finally seemed to find his stride after that, pummeling three goals past Vern within fifteen minutes. The only male Hufflepuff Chaser threw one in just after, putting the score half an hour in at forty to thirty in Gryffindor's favor. Still no sign of the Snitch, not from him or Orous much to the crowd's displeasure. It was cold and wet and they'd much rather the match be over with faster, Scorpius was in agreement as he was soaked so thoroughly his bones were shivering.

No luck though. The bats kept swinging and the balls kept flying, still with no sign of a glimmer of gold. He wasn't sure about Orous but Scorpius' eyes felt raw from the stinging rain, he flew high above the pitch so when he did see the Snitch he'd be less likely to lose sight of it when not flying into the rain directly. Orous seemed to have a similar idea as he too flew up high, Scorpius was about to say as much to him when he actually saw a golden glint. He shifted his eyes a fraction of an inch to gauge Orous' reaction, seeing the crimson casting a gaze in the correct direction. They both bolted, practically throwing themselves down through the sky with their brooms in their eagerness to end the match. It was neck and neck, Scorpius was taller and had a longer arm span but Orous had a faster broom then he did which evened out the difference. They were gaining on it, a wild Bludger – the wind and rain were too deafening to hear who had hit it – split them up but both managed to weave their way back in for the Snitch. Scorpius stretched as far as his arm wound reach and-

"HUFFLEPUFF WINS!" the shrill voice of the commentator managed to scream over the weather, she sounded rather excited, "Knox catches the Snitch, earning Hufflepuff a victory of 230 to 90."

"Good game, Orous," Scorpius sighed as they both landed, forcing a smile over his disappointment.

He was happy for Orous after all, clearly his friend had done a good job as Captain. Scorpius' own team had done well too, really the only person Scorpius could be disappointed in was himself. He'd failed. And if he couldn't win a simple Quidditch match, how did he expect to save Antonius?

* * *

_Carver was in such a bad mood at being ditched back in the school by his mum that for once he didn't even care he was in a different class to Ethan, he didn't care he was learning to resist torture by being tortured, he didn't care about the idiots in his class making fun of him. He didn't care. He too upset to care, too angry. How could his mum just send him away? Again. He wasn't a yo-yo, he was her son, her only son. Didn't that matter to her? Shouldn't it matter? Why would both his parents rather dump him in school then be with him?! What was wrong with him? What was wrong with them?_

_"Hey Carver, want to hear a funny joke?" Patton taunted him with a smirk while they were out exercising, hanging back to speak to him, "What's fat and-"_

_Carver didn't want to hear the punchline, he made his own by striking the mean boy as hard as he could. To Carver's surprise, Patton was knocked flat on his back and he found his fist now hurt. He shook it to try get rid of the pain and looked down at the stunned boy who touched his cheek gingerly, somehow it had never occurred to Carver before that his superior size was actually superior. _

_"I'm going to tell-" Patton started to say but Carver angrily grabbed the front of his robes and hauled the boy to his feet, he slammed him into a nearby tree roughly._

_"You're not going to tell anyone anything!" Carver snapped at him, "I'm fed up of you being mean to me, I never anything to you and all you do is be mean! You know what you are? A… A… meanie… face!"_

_"That's not-"_

_"Shut up!" Carver barked at him, "And leave me alone or I'm going to tell my Father, Master Xerxes Seneca, and have you tortured until your mind is so scrambled we could use it for soup! Do you understand?! LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

_"Okay," Patton agreed quietly, looking almost afraid and Carver pushed him roughly away._

_"And tell everyone else the same goes for anyone else who is mean to me! If I'm going to be stuck here for the rest of my life then people are going to be nicer to me."_

_Patton nodded before scrambling away, Carver just watched him go in surprise. Was that really all it took to get his classmates to stop saying mean things to him? Was that all he'd had to do? He just had to be mean instead of nice? Well, that wasn't so hard. If he had to be bad to be left alone then fine, Patton deserved to be punched anyway because he'd punched Carver before just with words. It still hurt. It seemed to work, his classmates left him alone and if they made fun of him then it was so far behind his back he didn't hear it._

_His seventh birthday arrived and he was angry to get a card from his mum, as if that made up for sending him away. If she really wanted him to have a happy birthday then she could've let him stay or even visited him but no, a piece of paper was supposed to make things better. Well it didn't. Although tearing the card up into little pieces and stomping on them did help a little until he felt bad for it, he scooped up all the pieces and kept them in his pillowcase. He didn't know if his mum would ever want to see him again after all, it may be the last thing she'd ever write to him. He was furious her but… she was still his mum. Turning seven put him back in class with Ethan again, easing his boredom in class and letting him vent his frustrations properly. However he was immensely disappointed in his brother's reaction to hitting Patton._

_"You hit Patton? That's horrible!" Ethan protested, much to Carver's confusion._

_"Ethan, he was mean to me," Carver pointed out, had Ethan not listened to him when he talked about Patton being mean to him before, "He deserved it, he's bad."_

_"Two wrongs don't make a right," Ethan insisted, "And do you even know why he was mean to you?"_

_"Because he's bad, obviously."_

_"No," Ethan stated quite firmly and Carver scowled irritably, he couldn't believe his own brother was siding against him, "It's because he's jealous. They all are. You have something that none of them have, a family who love you. They don't get their own dad to tuck them in, they have an older student to make sure they're in bed on time, they don't hugged, they don't get kissed, they don't get to write in ink not blood, they don't get to play with toys when their dad is spending time with them, they don't get their mum to take them away. They're jealous, Carver, they don't want to be stuck anymore then we do. We get some bad and some good, they just get all bad."_

_"So that makes it okay to be mean to me?!"_

_"No, it just means they don't deserve to be punched," Ethan said and Carver folded his arms crossly, not seeing the point, "You don't think they're mean to me too? You don't think it's hard for me as well when I'm alone in this class? But I don't punch them, I try to be nice to them."_

_"That's just stupid," Carver pointed out, not seeing the point in letting people be mean to you when you could stop it, "Being nice to people doesn't make them nice."_

_"Neither does punching them in the face, that'll just make them hate you more even if they leave you alone. There has to be a better way."_

_"Don't be so soft, it's not very soldier like."_

_"Well maybe I don't want to be a soldier, okay?!" Ethan snapped at him and Carver laughed at the ludicrously of the statement._

_"Look at where we are, Ethan, we're already soldiers," Carver pointed out what they'd been told, "There's no choice."_

_"Well maybe there should be," Ethan muttered to himself and continued on with his work._

* * *

In the aftermath of his spectacular first loss as Captain and another failed apparation lesson the next day, it completely slipped Scorpius' mind that he was supposed to talk to Martha. Maurice nagged him half the week before it also seemed to slip his mind, or at least was buried beneath schoolwork. Scorpius actually latched onto the distraction of difficult work, if anything he felt like he had even more homework despite taking even fewer subjects and Professor Ashain wasn't even giving homework. He'd work them like dogs during lessons but gave no homework, he still looked a complete wreck with bagged bloodshot eyes, an unusually gaunt face and frazzled unkempt hair. Scorpius was actually starting to feel a bit concerned for the professor's health, he picked at his food at meals and Cassia confirmed he was barely sleeping.

The next apparation lesson turned out to also be no good, Rose managed to splinch herself but still nothing for Scorpius. February gave way into a brighter March, it also sharply reminded Maurice of how he wanted to talk to Martha as New Zealand fell just after February. He started nagging him once more about talking to her, Scorpius was trying to find time amidst work and assured him he'd talk this weekend. Israel fell before the week was up, only reminding them they did not have all of time. That was also the week of the next full moon – why the Quidditch games had been switched to accommodate Michael – and Scorpius planned to spend it with Michael as an animagus, he'd just wait under the invisibility cloak until Marigold went to be then transform and be with Michael. As usual with things lately, it failed. Apparently Marigold stayed up with the werewolves all night.

"Come on, let's talk to now," Maurice urged him that Saturday as they waited in the stands of the Quidditch pitch for the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match, sure for _them_ the weather was all clear skies and sunshine.

"No way, we need to support Sequoia!" Abby protested immediately.

"It would just be me and Scor, I have to go and watch her anyway to make sure she doesn't try anything on Lorcan. If anything this makes it even easier for Sequoia since his match has less chance of sabotage with Martha gone completely."

"I kind of wanted to _watch_ the match," Scorpius muttered.

"Oh just go, shut him up," Rose insisted with a note of finality and shooed them off.

Scorpius sighed as he rose to go off with Maurice, naturally he already seemed to know where the Hufflepuff girl was. She was sitting with the professor's daughter, Auriga Koray amidst a sea of support for Ravenclaw. Apparently the poor girl didn't know her 'friend' was actually just using her, that had to be the only reason Martha was friends with her. That's what Xerxes' children did, like Viola with Lily and Carver with James, who he'd managed to corrupt completely. He was still mad at her.

"Hey Martha, can I talk to you?" Scorpius asked as he tapped the redhead on the shoulder, she turned to him I surprise and it didn't go unnoticed her hand had gone for her wand protectively before she saw it was him.

"We're kind of going to watch the match," Martha pointed out, gesturing to the pitch and looking quite eager for the match to start. Maybe she _had_ been planning something, "We're supporting Auri's house, go eagles. You could sit with us if you want."

"No, I need to talk to you _in private_," Scorpius insisted and Martha flicked her gaze to a surprised looking Auriga as if in askance if it was alright.

"It's okay, I don't mind," Auriga brushed it off and ushered her friend to go with a smile and wink, clearly still believing Martha had a crush on him, "Go on."

"Come on," Scorpius said as he led them all the way back to Hogwarts, Martha looking increasingly nervous as they walked with no word of what they wanted.

"What do you want?" Martha questioned finally.

"To talk," Scorpius stated truthfully but likely unhelpful, she kept her gaze on him though and their gray eyes met. He noticed a presence in his mind abruptly and slammed up his walls, shoving her out and knocking her back while the deaf boy ahead remained oblivious, "What the hell are you playing at?! Did you just try to read my mind?!"

"Well you're right, your answer wasn't helpful. Forgive me for wanting to know why two people who likely want to kill me are leading me to an empty Hogwarts."

"We're not going to ki- Wait, how did you know that I thought that?!" Scorpius demanded, changing his sentence mid-way through.

"I got a glimpse of your thoughts before you noticed me," Martha admitted as if it were obvious, giving a slight shrug.

"But-But I know Occlumency."

"Not very well though, did you teach yourself it?"

"No."

"Well did whoever teach you teach themselves it or have an incomplete education?" Martha asked and Scorpius opened his mouth to fervently deny this before changing his mind, Varanian admitted his grandfather had died before he mastered and Maurice had taught it to himself, "I can teach you if you want, my Dad was highly skilled at both Occlumency and Legilimency. You're good but you could be better."

"No, I'm not learning from _you_," Scorpius scoffed and picked up the pace as they reached Hogwarts, Martha hung her head slightly, "You want to _kill_ me, remember? Come on."

"Here will do," Maurice commented and led them into an empty classroom on the ground floor, the castle was pretty deserted. He closed the door behind them and finally put a hand to his translator necklace to be able to understand.

"Are you going to tell me what you want with me now?" Martha questioned, her eyes flicking between them and hand twitching for a wand.

"Information. We want to know if you know anything of value about the Inferi army, this Stephan or Cyrus," Maurice questioned bluntly and Scorpius nodded in agreement, "If you tell us willingly then we won't have to torture it out of you."

"Maurice!" Scorpius hissed but his friend didn't look to regret his words, Martha glanced between them again thoughtfully before sighing.

"Okay, I'll tell you," Martha agreed after a moment with a nod in Scorpius' direction, "I want the war to end and for your side to win too, I don't know a lot though."

"We're listening," Maurice stated.

"No, not you," Martha said with a shake of her head, "Just Scorpius."

"No, both of us. Whatever you tell him, he'll just tell me anyway."

"Well then he can after I tell him alone," Martha insisted firmly, "If you want my information then get out, you'll get nothing if you try torture it out of me."

"I-"

"Maurice, just go," Scorpius commanded and Maurice threw him an incredulous look, "Look, I just want this to be done with and this gets it done faster so get out."

"Fine but I'll be right outside in case she tries anything," Maurice said quite testily, probably offended at being kicked out. The second the door shut, Martha had her wand waving at the door to presumably put up enchantments again. Scorpius was starting to rethink his position, this was kind of suspicious.

"What is it that you don't want Maurice to know?"

"Nothing really but its personal and I don't know how he'll react so I figure it's better to tell you alone," Martha told him readily as she lowered her wand and turned back to him.

"What's personal?" Scorpius asked in confusion as he folded his arms, Alzay was dead so he wasn't sure what else personal and Shadow-related it could be.

"You want to know who Cyrus is?" Martha questioned and Scorpius nodded, "He's a seven year old blind boy who survived the destruction of Athens, he's fluent in Arabic, Greek and English so Stephan figured he was useful to use a translator. He's also Maurice's half-brother."

"What?!" Scorpius burst out in shock, risking a glance to the door as he half expected Maurice to barge in and demand more information but apparently they were alone.

"Apparently Roman Rivers had a relationship with an Egyptian woman named Leila Akram, Cyrus Akram is their son. He's never met his father and has no desire to but Roman is still his father like Maurice and Orous, making them brothers. He's my brother's friend so I know him a bit, he seems like a good kid and isn't doing this willingly," Martha explained and Scorpius' gaze drifted absent-mindedly out of the window, he wondered if Roman knew or if Cyrus knew his mother was dead, "And since we're on the subject, do you know why Uncle Pyrrhus defected?"

"Something to do with his son apparently."

"Did you know his son's name is Oathan _Loren_?" Martha asked and Scorpius' head shot back to her in recognition.

"Alzay had another son as well?" Scorpius wondered in shock.

"No, she had two."

"Two!?"

"Vathan by Rabastan Lestrange, Oathan by Uncle Pyrrhus, I think they're five and four now. Dad said was she was kind of slut," Martha told him and Scorpius shook his head at it, pitying the children already, "Vathan is a ward of Brutus Ashain now his parents are dead, Brutus very much wants Oathan returned to his brother safe and sound."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded, taking a deep breath and actually quite glad Maurice wasn't there. He wasn't sure how he'd react either to the news, he'd started Hogwarts an only child and now he had four brothers. Three of whom were at the mercy of bad people, "Anything else?"

"I don't know much about the Inferi army I'm afraid, just that they use the bodies of the people who didn't survive being conquered. And erm… I know who Stephan is."

"Who?" Scorpius questioned and Martha shifted uncomfortably, staring at her feet for a minute, "Martha, who is he?"

"He's my brother," Martha admitted finally, "Stephan Hunter, he's twenty-two and the oldest of my father's children and one of the first to receive a full education at the Training Tower. His mother was a Shadow too, I think she'd been grooming him to lead all his life. He's leading the Inferi, he wants to take Rabastan's place I think."

"How many kids did your father have?" Scorpius wondered incredulously, "How any more of you people will out of the woodwork?"

"He had nine, he died with another girl pregnant but I'm out of the loop so I don't know what became of it," Martha told him and looked rather sad but sounded determined, "Stephan's the eldest, then Ethan, then Carver, then Viola, then me, then Andreas, then Davin, then Rocio and then baby Xerxes. But we're not bad kids, you know?

"Ethan's _suicidal_ because he doesn't _want_ to be a soldier, they have him locked up in the Training Tower to stop him dying because he'd rather _die_ then serve. They'd have killed him if not for Dad's insistence because that's what they do, Scorpius, if you don't live up to their expectations or do what you want then you die. Andreas just wants to be a normal kid, he's so happy and excited to start Hogwarts next year. Davin stood up for Cyrus when he's treated terribly because of his blindness, his instinct was to help the weak not destroy them. Rocio's so young she still believes in Santa, she'd rather play with dolls then learn the best places to slash someone with Acuta when you want them to die. Xerxes is a _baby_, last time I saw him sitting up was an exciting new thing for him.

"They're why I'm doing this, that's what I'm fighting for, that's why I agreed to help Uncle Pyrrhus," Martha concluded and swallowed, her eyes looking watery, "He has a plan for the war to _end_, for the Shadows to be _gone_. That's what I want. I want my younger siblings to be able to grow up as people not soldiers, to have free will and a life, I want Ethan to be able to see there's a world of light outside of the Shadows and that he doesn't have to die to get to it. They deserve better."

"They do," Scorpius quietly agreed, assuming she was telling the truth anyway. She seemed sincere.

"I know I'll die, I know they'll kill me, the only reason I'm still living is because they're not certain I'm the one they want. I want to do as much as I can for as long as I can so my family can have a better life and if that means…" Martha started to say but trailed off tearfully, hastily wiping at her eyes, "I don't want to kill you and the Scamanders but if I really have to then I will. I'd rather find another way to sever the connection where everyone gets to live, _please_ help me do that."

* * *

**Part 2: **Unscarred

* * *

_Carver's disagreement with his brother put him in an even worse mood and he used it to throw himself into his classes, they were starting to get more active anyway where they said the spells they wanted while an older student did as bid. It was in preparation for turning eight, the age they could finally get wands and start doing proper spells themselves. Carver quite liked these tasks, or at least he liked it when he won. It felt good to win, to know he was better than someone else, to know he was more powerful than those mean kids._

_At least he did like it, until a horrible day in autumn when his teachers pitted him against his own brother. Carver didn't know what to do, he had argued with Ethan but he still love his brother and had no desire to hurt him. Ethan seemed in the same mind as nothing was happening even after a few minutes of the older kids staring between them all expectantly, starting to get annoyed at the lack of progress._

_"Well?" Master Wolfe demanded expectantly, "Your objective is to duel the other into submission and torture the keyword out of them not stand around staring at each other."_

_"I'm not hurting my brother," Ethan spoke up bravely and the teacher narrowed his eyes darkly._

_"N-Neither am I," Carver added, feeling more confident since Ethan was doing it too. They couldn't force them to fight._

_"Is that so?" Master Wolfe stated icily and the pair nodded while he folded his arms, "It doesn't matter if you're brothers, if you have to stand against family for the greater good of the Soul Eaters then you will."_

_"We're not doing it," Ethan decided stubbornly and Carver nodded along in agreement._

_"How about this then, if you don't comply and complete the task then I'll duel down the both of you and torture you both myself. And do not think I am going to go easy on you."_

_"Our father-"_

_"Your father's not here, is he?" Master Wolfe interrupted Carver immediately, "He's too busy screwing half the female population right now. So either you two are going to fight or you're going to pay, really what's the point in both of you suffering?"_

_"Do your worst, I'm not hurting my brother," Ethan announced, a flicker of fear in his eyes but nonetheless he seemed unwavering in his decision._

_Unlike Carver, his heart curled up fearfully at the thought of being punished by probably the most terrifying teacher they had. He swallowed in terror and Master Wolfe raised his wand, he was basically right. Was there any point in both of them suffering?_

_"Expelliarmus," Carver muttered and waved his stick correctly, his older student disarmed Ethan's, "What's the word?"_

_"Red apple," Ethan told him immediately, looking slightly disappointed._

_"Look, we did it," Carver blurted out desperately, "I fought him and he gave him me the word, we completed the exercise and both did our part. We shouldn't get tortured."_

_"That was a pitiful effort, Edwards but you did something so you can go," Master Wolfe decided disapprovingly before turning back to Ethan as he raised his wand, "But you, Seneca…"_

_"No!" Carver snapped angrily and jumped forward, "Ethan said the word, he took part. He shouldn't be tortured either."_

_"Well I'm going to and I'm the teacher, be grateful I don't punish you too for your insolence."_

_"If you hurt him then I'll-"_

_"Then you'll what?" Master Wolfe scoffed in interruption, his lips twisting into a cruel sneer, "What are you going to do? You're just a fat little boy."_

_"Well you're just a mean old man!" Carver yelled, his resolve bolstered by his rage at the insult and he snatched the wand from the older boy to aim at Master Wolfe._

_"Just go, Carver," Ethan snapped with a scowl at him, "He's right, you're just a fat little boy who can't do anything. Go away."_

_Carver was so hurt by his brother's words he dropped the wand, Ethan didn't look the slightest bit apologetic. He felt tears filling his eyes, feeling as if he'd taken a knife to the gut from the person he trusted the most. He turned on his heel and fled in tears._

* * *

Scorpius told Maurice what Martha had said or at least most of it, he left out the part about Maurice having three half-brothers. How did you even tell someone that? Maurice had initially reacted pretty badly to being told about Orous. The match was over by the time they got back to the pitch, Slytherin had won 150 to 130. Ravenclaw had slaughtered but Lorcan had caught the Snitch, securing a win albeit by a much smaller margin then Grozda had probably hoped for. The next day was apparation lesson again where Scorpius failed to make progress much to his immense frustration.

"Would you rather be splinching yourself and in pain?" Michael wondered of him when he said as much.

"Yes," Scorpius insisted stubbornly, "At least that is better than nothing, it's some progress, it's _something_."

Against his better judgement, he also found himself seriously considering Martha's words. He wasn't sure what exactly Florian's plan entailed but severing the connection to the Shadow Master made sense, even if he was opposed to any plan that involved Florian. He had no idea how to do that though, Calderon had sealed it but he was sure he would've at least how to sever it if he knew. And if Calderon didn't know a way then he wasn't sure there was one, although he supposed Calderon wasn't all-knowing. He also now knew that Calderon wasn't always truthful so there was also that, still Scorpius didn't even know where to start except to ask Maurice but Maurice was fiercely opposed to the idea.

"We shouldn't sever the connections," Maurice said firmly, "Sure, the Shadow Master can access my magic but I can also access his. If I can master it then I can use it against him."

"Then why do Martha and Florian think it needs to be severed to stop the Shadow Master?" Scorpius questioned determinedly.

"Martha's a dumb child and Florian's a lunatic, you shouldn't put too much stock in what they think."

And so Scorpius had no idea where to even start looking, he wasn't even sure the correct terminology for it unless it was actually called some wrist scar connecting magic thing. So he didn't know what he was looking for or if he'd even recognize it if he found it. He supposed he should really ask Martha but despite wanting to look into the plan, he still hadn't forgiven her for what she did to Michael or Hugo or trying to kill them and all. Which she still seemed willing to do incidentally.

His friends actually seemed inclined to agree with Maurice on this so wouldn't even help him research it, only Michael would help but his Dyslexia meant he wasn't the ideal research partner. Plus it cut into his time for homework, Scorpius was pretty good at staying on top of it but it was a slower process for Michael even with extra time he was allowed. Scorpius really didn't want to be the reason Michael failed his NEWTs, considering his struggle with alcohol especially he didn't think it would help him to fail. Scorpius still tried, that week he tore into trying to research the connection to break it.

"That book's no use, you know?" a girl's voice said to him halfway through the week as he poured over a book, Scorpius jumped in surprise and turned to see Martha, "If you're trying to find a way to sever the connection, I've already tried it. If you want I can show you my list of which ones I've already done."

"I'd rather do my own research, thanks," Scorpius stated icily, still distrustful. Martha looked the slightest touch hurt but seemed to understand as she nodded and left him alone.

Scorpius had had no luck finding anything of value by the end of the week, magical connections apparently didn't commonly allow you to gain access to the other's magic. That weekend his streak of failure continued, they were now halfway through the twelve-week apparation course but Scorpius _still_ made no progress. He was so frustrated, he didn't know why he was failing. He never failed with magic, spells came as naturally as breathing and he was one of the most talented in all his classes with non-verbal magic. So why was he failing?! Maurice had managed to splinch himself the time he snuck in to try it, he'd had some progress and that had been before any of his older classmates.

While he was failing, the Shadow Master was right on the ball. He made his next strike, taking down Mexico City and starting the conquest of Mexico causing a rippling uproar again. The Shadow Master just kept winning and Scorpius just kept failing, if he couldn't undo a simply wrist connection or apparate then how was he supposed to undo the damage the Shadow Master was doing? Or save Antonius? Or do anything at all of worth or relevance. He wanted to be doing something of value, he wanted to be succeeding at _something _in his life not failing. He was sick of failing. He was still having no luck, he poured over books until his tired eyes were raw but he could bash his head in for all the good it did.

He didn't even know why he cared so much, maybe it was just because he could actually _try_. It was more than he could say for most of the things bothering him. He felt drained by Friday and was not looking forward to hitting the books again, as usual Alchemy was the last class of the week and he stayed behind to help Rojer pack up the things. He'd been dropping the ball a bit with that lately in favor of getting in a bit of extra time for research, he felt like he was just dropping everything right now.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized guiltily as he helped Rojer carry the equipment over to the sink, "I know I haven't stayed after every class to help you recently."

"I did not notice," Rojer commented disinterestedly, "And I do not care. And you realize that you do not have to do this?"

"I realize," Scorpius admitted and rubbed his eyes tiredly, he still _wanted_ to help though.

"If you are tiring then rest, it is the end of the week."

"I can't rest, I have to find a way to break a stupid magical connection unless you have any idea how to do that."

"What kind of a magical connection?" Rojer questioned and Scorpius froze in surprise, glancing at the Alchemist who watched him expectantly as if waiting for an answer.

"Can Alchemy really do that?"

"Alchemy is a powerful branch of magic, you take magic properties from the world and infuse with your own magic so you get the powerful results. More than other magical kinds," Rojer explained before continuing carrying things over to the sink and shrugging it off, "You will need to give more details then this though."

"O-Okay, I can do that," Scorpius said and rushed to get the stuff cleaned up faster, it was worth a shot, "Can I trust you though?"

"This is your choice who to trust, I do not know your mind. Trust me or don't trust me, I do not really care."

"You really don't care about much, do you?" Scorpius commented thoughtfully and Rojer paused momentarily in his cleaning as if to consider this.

"No, I really don't," Rojer admitted as he finished off the dishes and limped back over to his seat to sit down, "So did you want to still know or what?"

"I'll tell you," Scorpius agreed and pulled up a chair beside him, "You've heard of the Shadow Master, right?"

"Yes, Rayan tells me this."

"Well, two weeks before my tenth birthday I was kidnapped by the Shadows and the Shadow Master gave me this," Scorpius explained and yanked down his left sleeve to show Rojer the scars, the Alchemist eyed it slightly interestedly, "It means we're connected… _somehow_ and can tap into each other's magic but Calderon sealed it. There are four more of us with the same scars, we're connected to each other as well and I want to break the connection without killing us. It may be important to stopping the Shadow Master."

"You want to stop the Shadow Master?" Rojer wondered, a flicker of amusement breaking his usually grim expression.

"Yes, I'm already a part of this and I have to end it. Don't you want him to be stopped and the war to end?"

"I do not care, it does not have much effect on me," Rojer admitted with a dismissive shrug, Scorpius gaped at him.

"It will when if they succeed in taking over the world."

"So what is the worst that can happen? They may lose and nothing changes or they win and it does, if they kill me then I am dead so it is no worry to me and if I live then I live. They cannot do worse to me then what has already happened."

"I can't believe you can think that," Scorpius exclaimed in shock, "Your father-"

"I am not my father, Scorpius," Rojer interrupted in a darker tone, "He was a great man, a hero who would have always fight the darkness away from the world. But he is not me, he is dead and I am a cripple who does not care for the world. I just want to do my Alchemy alone. May I?"

"What? Oh yeah, go ahead," Scorpius muttered distractedly as Rojer gestured to Scorpius' wrist abruptly, reminding him of what he was talking to him about in the first place. Rojer withdrew his wand and lifted Scorpius' wrist for a better look as he examined it, the alchemist looked interested as he waved his wand over the scar which had it twinge slightly, "Well?"

"Is a deep connection, powerful because of it links to the souls since magic comes from the souls."

"So you don't think it can be broken?" Scorpius asked, feeling somewhat disappointed but really had expected it.

"No, I don't think it can be broken, I _know_ it can," Rojer told him with a note of certainty as he looked up to him with a confident smirk, "So do you want to help make this or should I go alone?"

* * *

_He didn't see Ethan for a few weeks after that, Master Wolfe's punishment sent him to the Hospital Wing and by the time he got out he'd had his eighth birthday so was in a different class. Carver was bitterly glad, he was hurt by what Ethan had said. Maybe it was just better if he was alone, then no one could be mean to him._

_Time ticked on and Stephan passed his test much to his dad's delight that winter. Carver celebrated his eighth birthday, he was eager to get his wand but his mum wanted him back again. He thought he'd be happy to see her but when his dad dropped him off and she opened her arms, expecting him to just be pleased and act like she'd never abandoned him multiple times… He was just enraged. He folded his arms stubbornly and refused to hug her, he was done trying to make her like him._

_And he stayed true to it. He didn't to make her happy, he didn't behave and be good like he had in the past. What was the point after all? She hadn't cared he'd been good, she'd still sent him away. Why should be bother trying? He shouldn't that was why. So he wasn't good, he didn't do as he was told, he deliberately did things to annoy her and be screamed at for it. Only this time, he had no problem screaming back._

_She got tired of him after a few months, sent him back just like he'd expected. He knew it, he knew she didn't love him, he knew she didn't care. And if she didn't care about him then why should he care about her? _

_Carver was actually happier than usual to be back at any rate as the first thing they did was measure him for a wand, he couldn't wait to see how he'd do with spells. A few days later, he was presented with his wand. Fourteen inches, Hawthorn with a Troll Whisker core. He thought it was pretty cool, it felt good to have a wand._

_He discovered he wasn't half bad with it either, he excelled at combative spells especially while Transfiguration he found easier than most if he put the effort in. It could be a bit tedious and wasn't as fun as fighting spells but he could still do it, unlike some of his fellow classmates who seemed to find it harder. Who was the stupid one now?_

_Carver found himself rather busier with it, caring much more about his spellwork then he did learning boring stuff like history or language. It was a good thing he was focusing on it too because he was all but ignoring Ethan, he was still upset with his brother for what he'd said and ignored attempts at conversation with him. _

_He was celebrating his ninth birthday before he knew it and continued engrossing himself in spellwork, despite being chastised for ignoring aspects of his education. His classmates didn't screw him with anymore though, not when he had a wand now._

_That winter though he was rather surprised to hear from his mother, he was sure she wouldn't speak to him again after how he'd been like before. She wanted him back though, he found himself rolling his eyes when his dad brought him back again as he wondered how long before he'd be back in the Training Tower. _

* * *

"Yes!" Scorpius burst out enthusiastically, he couldn't believe it. Was it really possible the answer had been under his nose all this time?

"It is difficult to do but can be done, it must be done precise and will take most of or all of the weekend and this day to do," Rojer told him, already on his feet and waving his wand to summon ingredients and equipment, "So do what I say to you."

"I got it," Scorpius nodded as Rojer conjured some flames.

And they got to work. He wasn't sure if Rojer was making up it as they went or just recalling the process from memory, either way it was quite impressive because there seemed a lot to do. It was a good thing there was the two of them because Scorpius was doing one thing while Rojer juggled two more, he made it look rather easy as he moved fluidly between things with perfect timing. Regardless, Scorpius was impressed with how much he was able to do and remember. He hadn't even known what half these processes were at the start of the year.

They only briefly stopped when Rojer went to get them some food at a point when they could leave the various ingredients to simmer while another part of their substance could cool, they continued on late into the night until Rojer said it would need to brew for several hours so they could get some sleep.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Michael demanded of him when he walked into the dormitory, sending Albus jolting up sleepily while the other two roommates remained asleep, "We're been worried sick!"

"With Rojer," Scorpius told him excitedly, "We're making an elixir that will sever the wrist connection."

"What?! Are you serious?" Albus blurted out in shock and Scorpius clambered onto his bed eagerly as he nodded.

"I sure hope so."

Scorpius fell into an easy sleep for the first time recently in what felt like forever, he woke early and couldn't get back to sleep in his excitement to rid himself of the scar. He insisted Orous – and by extension Vern – sit with them at the Gryffindor table at breakfast so he could pass on the good news.

"This is a mistake," Maurice insisted determined and crossed his arms stubbornly, "And I refuse to do it, I think the connection is better kept intact."

"Well I think it's great," Orous countered eagerly, seemingly sharing in Scorpius' enthusiasm, "To be finally be rid of this connection to the supreme Shadow Master of darkness? I can't see how it would be a _bad_ thing."

"It's a two way street, it's going to backfire I swear."

"Well swear all you want but I'm in, I'll even go first. Please can I go first?" Orous volunteered and looked down at his scarred wrist, "You may not care Maurice, but it's a reminder of bad times for me, for us. If not for this then my soul would be intact. I want it gone."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed, he could relate to that while Maurice only continued to scowl in disapproval, "I'll call you when its ready and you can go first."

After breakfast, he abandoned thoughts of homework in favor of helping Rojer. He was surprisingly awake when Scorpius returned, he didn't look as if he'd actually gotten to bed. He was making a tower out of sugar cubes while he waited for it to finish simmering, they didn't have to wait long though and they were back to the grind.

For the whole day it was literally all he did, heating this and mixing that, boiling this and transfiguring that. They only took breaks when the elixir demanded it, like when they needed to leave it simmer again. Scorpius was feeling quite confident, Rojer seemed unwavering in his knowledge of what to do. By the end of the day, they'd moved from three separate mixtures to two which Scorpius thought was a good sign.

Rojer dismissed him just before dinner since it would need another long time to cool and heat respectively, Scorpius left him to join his friends for food before going to bed. He was so eager to be working on the elixir he had trouble getting to sleep, morning couldn't come soon enough. He went back to Rojer who was already working it, the cooling period had ended in the early hours of the morning after all.

Scorpius was extremely tempted to skip his apparation lesson to work on it but ultimately decided against it since he was struggling and Rojer had it covered regardless, it was another fruitless lesson for him but his buzz from the elixir made his failure have much less impact. He also noticed Martha in passing on his way back up to Rojer after, he pulled her to one side to tell her.

"I may have found a way to sever the connection," Scorpius blurted out and her cloudy eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" Martha wondered and he nodded, she gave him a relieved smile, "That's great. Where was it?"

"Alchemy. Before tomorrow, we should have the connection severed," Scorpius told her before letting her go.

He had to resist the urge to run back to Rojer, he was just mixing the two main components when he arrived which he took to sign things were nearing fruition. Rojer taking painstaking attention to detail, everything was very precise and Scorpius had less to do. Finally Rojer set the mixture aside and traced a symbol onto the palm of his hand, he then he held his palm over the elixir and pressed his wand against the back of his hand. There was a burst of light from the traced symbol into the mixture, the deep brown color seemed to fade until it was a clear surface like a liquid mirror. Rojer moved his hand away.

"Get your friends, this is ready," Rojer told him finally.

Scorpius scampered away, using the map to track down the Scamanders, Orous and Maurice who wanted to be there. He took them to the Alchemy Tower where Rojer remained, the shadows beneath his dark chestnut eyes evidence how much effort he'd put into it. Scorpius supposed they were about to see whether it would pay off or not.

"Who is the first?" Rojer questioned and Orous tentatively raised his hand, Rojer jerked his head at an empty seat, "Sit and roll up your sleeve."

"Okay," Orous agreed with a deep breath as he did as bit while Rojer retrieved the beaker of elixir.

"I should of warn you that this will hurt, do you still wish to do this?"

"Yes," Orous stated without hesitation while Lysander quailed fearfully, inching closer to the door.

"Please don't do this," Maurice pleaded but Orous didn't waver.

Rojer took Orous' hand gently with his free one and started to slowly pour the elixir onto the scarred wrist with his other, Orous screamed as the liquid touched him. It was like acid eating away it his flesh but localized only to the scars, the scarred skin sizzled and black smoke rose from the wrist while Orous continued to scream. Scorpius gasped as he felt a tug on his own wrist, Maurice and the Scamanders seemed to feel the same.

And then it was gone. Scorpius didn't know how he knew but he knew it had worked, he wasn't connected to Orous anymore. The albino stopped screaming as the smoke dissipated, the remaining liquid rolled off his now smooth, unscarred flesh as harmlessly as water. Rojer let go of Orous' wrist and the boy examined it as he stood in amazement, the scars were completely gone. Rojer whipped out his wand and waved it over Orous briefly as if to check that it had worked, he must've been satisfied as he tucked it back away. Orous smiled.

* * *

**Part 3: **Alchemical Cures

* * *

"Me next," Lorcan agreed eagerly and practically threw himself in the chair, yanking his sleeve up, "Get rid of it, professor."

"Rojer. I am not a professor, I am a alchemist," Rojer corrected slightly testily.

"Lorc, I-I agree with Maurice," Lysander stammered out as he inched closer to the door, "I don't think this is a good idea to get rid of these."

"Thank you," Maurice said in exasperation, "Finally someone who sees sense."

"I'm down with it, Rojer, descar me," Lorcan insisted and waved his arm impatiently at the alchemist.

Rojer took Lorcan's hand oblivious to the danger, the boy tensed but nothing devastating happened. Rojer repeated the process, Lorcan gritted his teeth through the pain and watched the scar melt away with his amber eyes unblinking. Scorpius felt the same tug and knew Lorcan was severed as well, Rojer waved his wand over his wrist as well and seemed satisfied as he let him go. Lorcan skipped away with a rare ghost of a smile on his face.

"Thank you," Lorcan offered gratefully to Rojer before turning to his twin, jerking his thumb at the seat, "Okay, Lys, you're up."

"I-I don't want to," Lysander whined and clutched his wrist protectively to his chest, Rojer rolled his eyes.

"Why not?"

"W-Well f-for starters it looks _painful_."

"So what? You're a _Gryffindor_, grow a pair," Lorcan growled at his brother, his voice noticeably gruffer and deeper than his twin, "The connection has to go. You'll feel better after, like a burden's been lifted."

"He shouldn't have to if he doesn't want to," Maurice complained and Lorcan gave him a brief scowl.

"For once I disagree with you, shut up," Lorcan barked at him dismissively before turning back to his brother who was actually cowering slightly as he clutched his wrist, "Lys, get on the chair."

"I don't _want_ my scar erased," Lysander insisted desperately, continue to protectively cradle his wrist, "It's part of who I am now. It may be bad reminder for you but for me it's a sign of something I _should_ remember. You don't know what it's like to forget a majorly important event in your life, to be in the dark. I was so horrible to you, Lorc, I don't… I don't want to be like again."

"Well you have to get rid of it so that girl will stop trying to kill you."

"I'm not afraid of some pathetic little girl," Lysander spat venomously, his eyes glinting darkly for a minute much to all – except Rojer, who seemed to have lost interest in their conversation and was idly drumming his fingers on the desk seemingly trying to recreate a song – of their surprise.

"I can handle her," Maurice brushed it off dismissively.

"You're not helping," Scorpius complained at his friend, Maurice shrugged.

"I'm helping my cause."

"_You_ may be able to but my brother isn't an all-powerful god like you," Lorcan insisted determinedly, "And we're the ones wanted dead not you anyway."

"I still don't want to," Lysander reaffirmed.

"Lysander Xenophilius Scamander, if you care about me at all then get your butt on that chair right _now_!" Lorcan yelled at his brother and Lysander seemed to give in as he shakily went to sit down.

"_Please,_ I don't want to," Lysander whimpered as Lorcan pulled up his sleeve, "Don't make me, Lorcan."

"It's for the best. Do it, Rojer."

"Are you sure you do not wish to waste more of the time arguing?" Rojer wondered testily, dark chestnut eyes swiveling between them disapprovingly.

Lorcan held out Lysander's wrist readily, the Gryffindor of the twins trembling with terror. Rojer picked up the next vial and Lysander jolted in fear before he'd even moved the vial, the alchemist hesitated for a fraction of a second while Lysander bite his lip and looked at him with wide pleading eyes before Rojer poured it over his arm. Lysander screamed as if he was dying, flailing and sobbing but Lorcan held him firmly in place. Scorpius felt the same tug at his scar and knew it worker, Rojer again seemed to check with his wand before giving a nod of satisfaction and Lorcan led his still crying twin away.

"That hu-hu-hurt," Lysander wailed, clutching at his unscarred wrist.

"Oh grow up," Lorcan muttered on the way out the door.

"Okay, next," Rojer clapped his hands together, both Scorpius and Orous looked to Maurice who gave a snort of disapproval.

"Look, if you really want then sever your connections but mark my words, it'll come back to bite you in the ass," Maurice told them pointedly, "But I'm not doing it. I still feel like it's important and I'm not burning this bridge willingly, you're putting too much in the word of a little girl who got her information from an insane person. It'll take more than the likes of you two to make me to subdue me if you intend to force me."

"Maurice, don't be difficult," Orous sighed heavily, "Please, just get it done. The only one who's going to get bitten in the ass is you."

"I don't think so," Maurice scoffed and stalked off without another word, Orous sighed again.

"Oh brother."

"Well, who didn't see that coming?" Scorpius commented unsurprised to his friend who inclined his head in agreement as he went to sit by Rojer.

"I'll try to talk to him for all the good it'll do," Orous offered as he left after Maurice while Scorpius sat.

"You have the most strangest of lives," Rojer pointed out as Scorpius pulled up his sleeve.

"You don't know the half of it," Scorpius sighed himself as he offered his hand to the alchemist.

Rojer took his hand and a vial of elixir with the other, Scorpius tensed to try brace himself against the expected pain before the liquid was poured. Scorpius let himself scream in pain, he was forcibly reminded of when he'd gotten it. It was agony, like his wrist was on fire and then it felt oddly as if it was shattering. And then the pain was gone, Scorpius felt oddly as if a weight he hadn't realized was there had been lifted off his mind.

He looked down at his wrist in amazement, the scars that had plagued him for years were gone. He turned his wrist over and ran his fingers disbelievingly over the smooth flesh, all the way around they were no more as if they'd never been there at all. He still had the rune scar and his other hand was still scarred badly from the fire but he could live with that. Rojer ran his wand over his wrist like he had with the others, unlike the others though he scowled.

"What?" Scorpius wondered worriedly, "Didn't it work?"

"Yes, it did but… It _did_. No, it is definitely gone. That connection is very broken," Rojer muttered distractedly under his breath and moved his wand further from the wrist, resting it over his palm scarred with the Tiwaz rune, "How did you get to have this?"

"It's a long story."

"What a shame that I am too busy with all of the nothing I have to do listen to it then," Rojer quipped sarcastically as he stood to start carrying away the equipment to wash it.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" Scorpius wondered and Rojer looked thoughtful for a minute.

"This is more of a mild curios but that's about as interested as I have in things, more of a background of the connection might be a interest to you."

"Alright," Scorpius said wondering where to start, he suppressed a yawn and remembered it was getting late as well as how Rojer was likely tired, "But not right now, its late."

"As you wish," Rojer shrugged disinterestedly as he continued cleaning up while Scorpius stood.

"Thank you by the way," Scorpius offered with sincere gratitude but Rojer brushed it off, "You know for all of this."

"It is alright, I missed doing the more complex of alchemy anyway. See you tomorrow, Scorpius. Buh-bye."

"Night."

* * *

_"Come on, Carver, have you put on your dress robes yet?" his mum chided him as she entered his room the day after he'd been brought back, Carver rolled his eyes and threw down the toy he'd been playing with ready for the angry screeching, "CARVER, DO WHAT I SAY! YOU ARE GOING TO BE MEETING SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL TO ME AND I WANT YOU TO LOOK YOUR BEST!"_

_"I don't see why, you'll just ditch me soon anyway," Carver pointed out acidly but nonetheless started to get changed._

_"No, I won't," his mum scoffed, "Pegasus doesn't think I should let you be raised away from my… what was that word? Oh yeah, influence. And if we have children then it's not the proper behavior to have your other child sent away, Pegasus thinks we should be a family. Pegasus is so smart like that, he knows lots of stuff and long words."_

_"Isn't Pegasus a horse's name?"_

_"NO! PEGASUS IS A BEAUTIFUL NAME! DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY BOYFRIEND!" his mum screamed at him and Carver just rolled his eyes as he finished getting changed, she immediately started combing back his hair before stepping back to look at him as if to see if he looked satisfactory, "Well I guess that's the best we can do, try not to look so fat an come with me to wait downstairs."_

_Carver rolled his eyes and went to go wait downstairs to wait, lounging around in boredom. He didn't have his wand, his mum had taken it off him until he was older. His mum joined him a few minutes later and snorted with laughter, she'd put so much makeup on she looked like one of Viola's dolls. She opened her mouth to yell at him but he was thankfully spared by the doorbell, her face lit up like a Lumos spell and she stroked her hair nervously._

_"That must be him! Wait right here," his mum said eagerly and rushed off to get the door, at least now Pegasus was here they could finally eat dinner. He was starving, "Pegasus, this is my little boy, Carver. Carver, this is my boyfriend, Pegasus Golden Reed."_

_Carver got up to meet this guy with a stupid name, he was very tall but thin like a stiff board. He had quite a long face with dark eyes and slicked back black hair, his nose was very big and pointed. He was dressed very smartly and was much younger then Carver expected, he was younger than his mum at any rate. Pegasus scowled disapprovingly at him, eyeing him up and down._

_"Don't slouch, boy," Pegasus told him immediately and Carver stood up straighter while the man glanced at his mum who had started stroking her hair nervously again as she smiled at him saccharinely, "You're right, he's so rude."_

_"I stopped slouching!" Carver insisted._

_"Doesn't apologize for disobedience, talks rudely to his elders, doesn't use his inside voice when inside," Pegasus counted off Carver's apparent flaws, "You should never have let him out of your influence, Mary."_

_"Oh, actually it's Maeghan," his mum corrected him._

_"I know but I like the name Mary better," Pegasus shrugged it off and narrowed his eyes at her, "You do want me to like you, don't you Mary?"_

_"Of-Of course," his mum stammered out, looking horrified at the thought of him disliking her while Carver was just shocked, "Mary is a lovely name. Maryanne is my middle name so… so it's a bit like that."_

_"Her name is Maeghan not Mary, she shouldn't have to change it just because you say so," Carver protested in defense of his mum, immediately taking a dislike to this man, "If you really like her then her name shouldn't matter."_

_"I erm… yeah, that sounds… right."_

_"So you don't like me?" Pegasus demanded of her in mock hurt, "Here I am thinking we have something special, that we have a future together but you'd rather throw it away over a name?"_

_"No! No, of course not!" his mum burst out desperately, throwing herself at him and looking on the verge of tears, "I love you, Pegasus! Don't leave me!"_

_"And after all I do for you, buying you nice things and taking you on dates, going out with you even though you had an ugly fat bastard child out of wedlock and are no longer a pure maiden. You won't do this one thing for me?"_

_"No! I will! I will! You can call me whatever you want, just don't leave me! Pegasus, please!" his mum cried, bursting into tears and making her makeup smudge. _

_Carver silently wished Pegasus would go, he'd known him less than five minutes and already hated him. Pegasus pried her gently off him and made her look him in the eye, he pretended to look thoughtful before sighing._

_"Alright, Mary, I have decided to forgive you because I love you and I'm too good a person to not to," Pegasus lied to her and caressed her cheek gently, she sniffed and relaxed slightly, "Now why don't you continue with that dinner while I get to know your bastard?"_

_"Y-Yes, Pegasus. Thank you, I promise I won't let you down," his mum agreed and wiped her eyes, "I made chicken."_

_"Oh, Mary, I really fancied fish tonight," Pegasus said, faking looking disappointed._

_"I-I can make fish," his mum blurted out immediately, seemingly eager to please him, "It will take a bit longer though since I have to start from scratch."_

_"Well alright, I suppose I can live with that."_

_"For Merlin's sake!" Carver snapped angrily, "Maeghan just spent hours making chicken for you, be grateful she made food at all! If you don't like it then tough!"_

_"Mary, you have the rudest child," Pegasus told her with an expression of mock hurt again, "His behavior is really rather making this evening unpleasant, he needs a lot of work."_

_"CARVER, BEHAVE!" his mum yelled at him furiously before turning back to Pegasus, looking upset, "I-I'm sorry, I only just got him back. I'll make it up to you, I promise. I'll try harder to make him good."_

_"I'm sure you will. And I'll help you with the boy, we're in this relationship together," Pegasus assured her and squeezed her hands comfortingly, she smiled once more before he pointed her in the direction of the kitchen, "Now that fish…"_

_"I'm on it!" his mum insisted and scampered away to cook, Carver could not believe his eyes._

_"Alright, boy, just you and me," Pegasus told him, his tone darkening._

_"My name's Carver and I'm not changing it to boy for you, you manipulating… jerk," Carver spat out at him, Pegasus gave him an amused smile as he shook his head._

_"Boy is not your name, it's the absence of a name because only people who have my respect get to be called by a name. You're just an ugly, stupid blob of fat that not even your own parents want," Pegasus said harshly and Carver tried not to feel the stab of hurt in his heart while Pegasus took off his belt, folded it up and smacked it against his palm, "Alright now, drop your pants and bend over."_

_"What?!"_

_"Were you really so stupid to think you'd get away with being so rude to me?" Pegasus questioned in a patronizing tone, "You're not. Now drop your pants and bend over, your attitude indicates you're far overdue a spanking."_

_"I'm not doing that," Carver scoffed and folded his arms crossly, Pegasus raised an eyebrow._

_"Boy, if I have to get my wand out and make you then I will. And if I get my wand out then I'm making sure the buckle hits you every time, and for those in the room with the intelligence of your bimbo-brained mother, that hurts more."_

_"Don't talk about my mum like that."_

_"I can talk about my woman any way I blood well please now for the last time, boy, drop your pants and bend over," Pegasus stated firmly and Carver glared at him but nonetheless complied with his demands, only for Pegasus to burst out laughing._

_"What? What is it?"_

_"What? Nothing, it's just did you really think it was normal to look that…" Pegasus started to say but trailed off, shaking his head with a smile while Carver started to feel rather insecure, "Never mind."_

_"I want to-" Carver began to say but was cut off as he gasped in pain as Pegasus struck his bare buttocks with his belt violently hard, the leather bit into his skin painfully._

_"Now, how many lashes should you get? How many times have you been mean to me again? Ten? Twenty?"_

_"I haven't even known you twenty minutes!" Carver protested and was struck again._

_"Well, there you go speaking out of turn again so we can add it to the list…"_

* * *

Scorpius was feeling a much better mood then usual when he woke up on Monday morning, he glanced at his wrist just to check that it was still unscarred and he hadn't dreamed the whole thing or that it had returned or something. He was relieved to see it hadn't been a dream and his fears were proved incorrect, his wrist was still unscathed. Despite the multitude of things he still needed to do, he felt as if something at least had been accomplished for once.

Spending the weekend with Rojer had severely cut into his homework time, forcing him to spend the rest of the week and most of the next scrambling to catch up and Maurice was opting not to help since he was rather irked about them getting their connections severed. At any rate, it was only two and a half weeks until the Easter break so he wouldn't have to worry much about classes for a bit, instead he hoped to spend the week with Varanian and hopefully making some progress with finding Antonius. He was also hoping to speak to Martha about that.

The apparation class that Sunday went as badly as usual, Scorpius was really not sure what he was doing wrong. He was hoping maybe Varanian would have some pointers, considering Annie and Austin had learned it so quickly he was clearly a superior teacher of apparation to Cistro. The next week was the last full week before the break though but the first week of April, as well as the last Hogsmeade trip before it. Scorpius worried what to do about Michael for it considering his drinking when brought with and left behind, however it also coincided with the next full moon so Michael would be in the Hospital Wing and to wiped to worry about it.

"Oh no," Michael groaned at breakfast the day before when an owl dropped an envelope for him.

"What?" Scorpius wondered as Michael ran a hand through his hair.

"Crystal's handwriting," Michael explained as he tore open the envelope, "I bet this is a letter saying I was right, John's abusing her and the little ones just like I feared and now my family is fucked all over again."

"Didn't you use to be more optimistic?" Albus said to him through a mouthful of cereal.

"Bite me. And don't talk with your mouth full!" Michael chastised as he unfolded his letter, Albus stuck his tongue out while Michael was reading and just ended up dripping cereal all over himself, "Happy now, Albus?"

"Dunno what you're talking about," Albus muttered as he cleaned it up, his face flushing red in embarrassment while Michael scowled at the letter.

"So is it as you feared?" Scorpius wondered curiously but Michael shook his head.

"No, it's just to tell me that John is picking me up from the platform," Michael told him and screwed up the letter in disapproval, "Also to ask my Alchemy teacher about cures for the Festering Curse, she thinks it could be linked to that. John's still milking this fake dying thing apparently."

"How do you know it's fake?"

"Why would he be able to pick me up if he was really as ill as he claims?"

"I agree with Michael, he's a former Death Eater so he's obviously a horrible person," Rose spoke up in agreement.

"Hey, my father was a Death Eater," Scorpius said in defense of his father, the redhead just raised an eyebrow though.

"And you have _such_ a great relationship with him?"

"My grandfather was one too and he sacrificed his soul to save me so there's still hope," Scorpius insisted, hoping his cheeks didn't go as red as they felt. He didn't consider his father a horrible person despite whatever issues he had with him.

"I'm with Scor," Maurice pointed out, "John is good, Lenore said so and I trust her judgement. She knew him better then all of us combined. And he did save your sister."

"And Bob gave us a roof over our heads, it didn't stop him pummeling us," Michael stated testily as he went back to gnawing at his breakfast.

They finished their food more quietly before scattering for classes as usual, Michael in a rather unhappier mood then usual as well as tired from the full moon. Scorpius also made a mental note to speak to Annie over Easter for advice on how to get Michael sober because he was worried being unhappy would worsen it, if she could do it then surely she'd know how to help her nephew. Michael was dead on his feet by the end of the day but he still stayed back after Alchemy to speak to their alchemist.

"Hey Rojer, can I ask you something?" Michael offered as they started clearing away the equipment.

"No one is stopping you," Rojer pointed out.

"Well, it's a shot in the dark but do you know of a curse for the Festering Curse?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered in surprise while Michael sighed as if in disappointment, "Just flat out, yes?"

"That is what yes means unless you have knowledge I do not."

"Can we make some?" Michael asked and Rojer fished inside his robes before tossing him a vial of the silvery liquid he'd used on Scorpius twice before.

"That's the cure?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"Do you not remember what I tell you that it has other uses?" Rojer countered with his own question, "Festering Curse falls under the purging the body of bad things use. You just have to apply it to the wound then use the wand to guide it through the body like what I have had you practiced, the tricky part is just to have make sure you get all of the bad and you have need to have a general knowledge of the circulation blood stream because if you move it the wrong way you can burst a blood vessel."

"Well thanks, Rojer," Michael commented before leaving while Scorpius glanced back to the alchemist.

"You're not even going to ask?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"No," Rojer shrugged it off disinterestedly, "I do not really care. You and your friends do have the most strangest of the requests and questions though."


	12. Chapter 12: For Better or Worse

_**Parts (47-49)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 12**

For Better or Worse

* * *

**Part 1: **Mother's Choices

* * *

Scorpius wasn't actually meeting Molly in Hogsmeade the next day but for once he didn't mind, her birthday was in April – unfortunately not until the week after Easter – so he wanted to get her a nice present while he had the chance. He was just going with the now single Albus along with Maurice, Michael was too weak and confined to the Hospital Wing. It was a pleasant day, the tedious search from Cistro was not so bad when the weather was pleasant. Sadly, Scorpius doubted it was so pleasant for Antonius. He dragged his friends around, looking for a birthday gifts for Molly's nineteenth birthday. Considering he was also her cousin, Albus seemed rather unhelpful on getting her things and Maurice just seemed in a foul mood even after Scorpius decided they should stop for a Butterbeer in the Hog's Head.

"Just be grateful your girlfriend's alive to celebrate her birthday," Maurice pointed out with a bitter sorrow in his tone, "Lenore will never get to turn another year older."

After that, Scorpius did feel a bit worse but it did give him an idea. He got her the usual, chocolates, jewelry, some gloves he thought she'd appreciate and a new charm – a light charm that actually lit up – but also a beautifully crafted picture frame. He intended to put a photograph of Molly's family in there that Albus promised to get for him, considering she was cut from them and with the deaths… he thought she might like a positive memory to hold on to. They also got some things for Abby as her birthday was also in April.

"Merlin's beard, Scor," Albus grumbled on the way back with Molly's things, "You know a card and a Chocolate Frog would've sufficed."

"Would have done that for Grozda?" Scorpius wondered.

"Well of course not but that's Grozda, you're_ just _dating Molly," Albus explained and Scorpius through him a dark look, "What? A decade ago she was happy just to run around jumping in muddy puddles. Aunt Audrey was not impressed."

"I should hope not," Maurice scoffed as he shook his head, letting go of his necklace as he had to while they were walking, "Jumping in muddy puddles, honestly."

"And he wonders why we call him inhuman?"

Scorpius spent a good deal of the rest of the day wrapping after that, he wanted everything to be nice for Molly. The next day was the dreaded apparation class that Michael got to miss because of the full moon, Rose actually succeeded in apparating for the first time as had quite a few others while Albus splinched his elbow and Abby some of her hair but Scorpius? Nothing. He couldn't even splinch his own hair, why was this so hard for him?! It frustrated him to no end, he didn't like failing. He did manage to tell Martha the Alchemy worked though.

The last few days were filled with winding down and encouragement to keep studying over the break if possible, it was never too soon. Most of the teachers anyway, those related to Ashylos said nothing and the new Transfiguration professor Penny Durante gave everyone in class a small chocolate egg that they could eat once they transformed it into a chocolate chick or bunny. The choice was theirs. After that, there really was nothing else to do but pack for the Easter break. A full breakfast, a short carriage ride, a lengthy train trip and they were back in London awaiting pick up.

Corin gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek and waved goodbye before going to catch another train back to France, Mrs Potter was picking up her own and Ron's so Albus, Vern, Lily, Rose and a sad looking Hugo – Scorpius hoped he was just feeling wiped from the full moon – left with her, the Scamanders went with their mother, Abby and August with their mother, Cade came for Orous and Maurice – who surprisingly had decided to go home, messing with Scorpius' plans of telling the calmer Orous of his siblings to get help telling Maurice – until it was just him and Michael.

"So John's late," Michael commented disapprovingly just as Scorpius' mother approached, she gave him a smile and pulled him unashamedly into a hug quite unlike his father.

"Sorry I'm late, Lysel's still pretty rough after the full moon and we got side-tracked," his mother apologized as she pulled away before she noticed his friend, "Hi Michael, how are you doing?"

"Alright, just waiting for my aunt."

"Ah," his mother said and looked around as if expecting to see Annie, who she hadn't actually met so it was kind of pointless, although he supposed she wasn't seeing anyone who looked like they were approaching Michael, "Are you alright by yourself or would you like us to wait with you?"

"I'm fine," Michael brushed it, "But thank you, have a nice Easter."

"Thank you, you too."

"Bye," Scorpius offered and gave him a hug in farewell, "Good luck."

* * *

_Carver hated Pegasus. He absolutely loathed him, he did not understand for the life of him why his mum was so interested in him. He wasn't the sharpest sword in the stone but even he could see the man was manipulative, whenever she disagreed with something he always talked his way into making her think she was at fault. For the love of Merlin, he made her change her name for him. He may not know a lot but he could see it was wrong, Pegasus was wrong. _

_And that was how much he hated him even without taking into account how he treated Carver himself. When he stood up for his mum, Pegasus just pulled out his silver tongue and convinced her that they were the ones at fault again. He constantly insulted Carver, mocking him worse than the kids in the Training Tower ever had and he neither had his dad to stick up for him – he tried telling him but he was more interested in having fun with him then hearing his problems whenever his father made time for him – nor Ethan to talk to who he barely saw anyway now._

_That was without the punishments, he was spanked so much it hurt to sit down, Pegasus also liked to strike him across the hands with a stick so much it hurt to his fingers then to tie him upside and leave him there for long periods of time. He swore Pegasus timed it to make it hurt the most as well, such as spanking him just before dinner when he'd have to sit down or striking his hands just before giving him a literacy assignment. Just like his mother, Pegasus had rules except his rules were always punished and he seemed to change them constantly like telling him one day the left hand side of the stairs only was for going up then punishing him for doing it the next week because now the right hand side of the stairs was only for going up. If he complained to his mother, he'd deny ever changing he rule and insist Carver was simply mistaken. Of course she believed Pegasus._

_He was surprised the month of his tenth birthday by two sets of terrible news, the first was Pegasus moving in and the second was the birth of new baby brother. He was angry at his dad for having more kids, didn't he have enough? He didn't even spend enough time with the ones he had, let alone wasting the time on a new baby. It took years for them to grow up anyway and by then he'd be older and they'd be boring to him, Martha and Andreas were toddlers incapable of playing anything interesting and Viola just wanted to play with dolls. Carver hated it all, Pegasus moving in just meant he had even less time when he'd be free of him._

_And any hope of his mum breaking up with him like his dad did with all the many women he was with was dashed that summer when his mum announced they were getting married, married was like dating but forever from what he understood. Carver never thought he'd actually miss the Training Tower, at least there he had Ethan and the punishments didn't leave him stinging for days after. He tried to convince his dad to let him go back but he insisted he couldn't without his mother then went back to trying to make him play with toys he had outgrown by then, why couldn't his dad just listen to him? Why couldn't anyone listen to him? He was in pain and he was miserable, he cried himself to sleep at night sometimes, did no one hear that?_

* * *

Michael watched Scorpius leave, keeping his smile up until they were safely back through the barrier. He gave a wistful sigh as they finally left, he'd much rather be going with them. He was dreading the holiday, by now John had to abusing them and now he was going to get it. For once he was thankful for the full moon because his friends thought he was rundown because of that, in truth he'd barely slept as he lay awake thinking of his poor family being bludgeoned or cruciated or being tortured some other sick magical way like Maurice would probably know. And second John would come sauntering in with grazed knuckles, the whiff of alcohol on his breath and a dark glint in his eyes.

"Michael," a vaguely familiar voice rasped and his eyes snapped back open to see John, he was looking quite the opposite to what Michael had feared.

His face was ashen gray while the scar was livid, bloodshot eyes carried heavy black bags and he was shivering. His skin looked damp, his brown locks was plastered to his head and beads of sweat were already rolling down his brow. Despite this, his azure eyes somehow managed to still remain steely and give him some semblance of not being a complete wreck.

"Are you alright?" Michael asked without thinking, earning himself an incredulous look.

"Dying, remember?" John croaked, his voice sounding rather hoarse and why it was so was immediately answered as he burst into a violent coughing fit. He gripped the train for support with one hand as the coughs wracked his body so forcefully it was like he was trying to cough up his heart, only beads of black bile came out though before it passed, "It's okay, it's not contagious."

"I erm… figured."

"Come on, Crystal is waiting for you," John wheezed and gestured vaguely towards the exit, Michael immediately started pushing his things while John staggered along with him.

"Should you really be walking around in your condition?" Michael felt compelled to utter.

"I reckon I still have a few weeks left, it's easier for Crystal if I get you. Your mother misses you, the little ones too."

Michael resisted the urge to insist John had no right to call his siblings 'the little ones' as they walked, having to stop three more times on the way out of the station due to John's coughing fits where he continued to cough up black bile in place of phlegm. Maybe he was trying to cough out his heart, it likely was black and rotting. He thumbed the vial of cure in his pocket, he wondered if he was a bad person for wishing Rojer had just said he hadn't a clue.

Once they were outside and away from muggle eyes, John apparated them back to his shack and almost seemed on the verge of collapse. They got in though, the little ones scampering to meet him – and John – along with his mother while John brushed off their greeting to head back upstairs to likely sleep although Michael heard the sound of him retching through the floorboards. John was definitely in a bad way but his family actually seemed in a good way, Agnes, Ivy and Flynn started excitedly telling him about their lives with John, Bertie was still quiet but was smiling more and nodded animatedly when they spoke. Crystal went to go check on John but did return, she seemed alright as well.

None of them sported bruises or wounds, was it possible Michael was wrong about John? No, no he was sure John was bad. It was just because of the Festering Curse that he was incapable of hurting them, or he could be erasing their memories or _something_. The guy was a freaking wizard, if Michael knew or at least knew of some dark stuff then the former Death Eater had to know even more. And yet he found himself fingering the vial in his pocket, the key to saving John. But what that condemn his family? If they were really alright then would they be when he healed John? Would be healing a monster to hurt them? Should he just not do it? But then what about if John _was _good? He'd be letting an innocent man die. Not just an innocent man, a man his family seemed compelled to care about. Besides, was it not his duty as a wannabe future – if he actually had a chance at one – Healer to help everyone? Even people he disliked? And what about Crystal? What would he tell her? He could sense she was dying to ask.

Crystal went to check on John five times before it hit the little ones bedtime, he could only curse his conscience at he took the opportunity to go see John himself. He rapped politely on the door and was answered by the sound of violent vomiting, he took that as his cue to enter and just in time to see John regurgitating sickly yellow and black bile.

The room was dark, the silver slivers of moonlight sliding in from the open window were the only source of light. Like everywhere, the room looked rundown and made of rotting wood. He couldn't make out much more than the double bed in the gloom, the window was opposite the door though and John was lying closest to it with the light causing the droplets of sweat to glisten noticeably. John didn't seem to notice him and collapsed weakly into the bed when he was done, his body still visibly shaking.

"John?" Michael wondered and John gave a vague groan.

Michael walked over to him, going unnoticed by John as the former Death Eater's eyes had fluttered shut as he lay there breathing unevenly. He sighed to himself, if he wasn't sure before then he was now. He _had_ to help John. He plucked the vial from his pocket and pulled back the blankets down to his waist as he knew the wound was on his side, John had changed into a loose pajama top and didn't seem to notice him still.

He lifted up the top to see the wound on the same side as him, he wrinkled his nose at the stench as it smelled dead and looked worse. The wound did look… well like it had been festering, a swamp of pus and dark decay that was oozing disgustingly. He reached out with the vial only to feel John's clammy hand grasping his wrist, his eyes struggled to open.

"What are you doing?" John croaked, eying him suspiciously, "I know you're into healing but come on."

"Look this is a cure, okay? My Alchemy teacher gave it to me, it'll make you better," Michael explained and waggled the vial of silver, John could only gape at him so Michael went to continue.

"No!" John gasped desperately and grabbed his wrist once more, this time more forcefully.

"Didn't you hear what I said? It's a cure, I prom-"

"I don't _want_ to be cured, okay?" John insisted and Michael almost laughed until he realized he wasn't joking.

"What do you mean you don't want to be cure?" Michael complained of him as he took a confused step back.

"I _want_ to die," John told him seriously but elaborated after Michael continued to stare at him in confusion, "You get one chance at life, Michael, I screwed mine up by becoming a Death Eater. That was it, I'm done, it didn't make a difference I went to Azkaban because there's no such thing as redemption. Lenore was my life instead, she had a chance, a future and I did everything I could to try ensure she'd have a better one then me. But I failed. And she died. There's no point living anymore, there's nothing left for me."

"Why not just kill yourself?"

"I was going to!" John blurted out uncharacteristically desperately, "But the animals… My body might not be discovered for a while and I didn't want them to suffer, that's why I was in London when I met your mother, that's why I gave away my owl so easily because I was trying to find good homes for them. Then she told me about your sister and I figured I could do something good before I died just for once by helping but she was in deep, I recognized she'd need to fake their deaths or the Shadows would come after them so I had to do that. When I realized I'd been hit by the Festering Curse saving Ivy… It was _perfect_, a guaranteed death and in the meantime I could make sure Crystal and the kids would be alright first. Now I can die, the animals are cared for, they can make a living and when the war's over sell this dump and go back to their regular lives. Win-win for everyone."

"The slow and painful death part didn't bother you?" Michael wondered, his mind trying to catch up to what his ears were hearing.

"No," John scoffed and coughed violently again, "I want it to hurt, if not this I was going to burn myself alive anyway. Pain is good, let's you know you're alive so I want to feel alive for as long as possible, so I know when I draw my very last breath. I deserve a painful death for my crimes anyway."

"You don't need to die, you need help," Michael found himself saying, instinctively finding himself against John's mentality as the man rolled his eyes at him, "What about Crystal and the little ones?"

"What about them? Michael, I know you find this really hard to believe but I'm _not_ dating your mother," John insisted very firmly, "I'm nothing to them, they won't care if I die and like I said it'll work out for them."

"Have you told Crystal your plan?"

"Of course not, she'd try convince me otherwise out of the goodness of her heart much like you are," John pointed out and coughed again before giving him a look of disbelief, "Michael, you _hate_ me, remember? You of all people should be on board. You don't want me around your family, you think I'll hurt them, you think I'm bad. I _am_ bad, I did horrible things to innocent people. I _deserve_ death."

"I didn't wish death upon you!" Michael insisted, he also wasn't entirely sure whether John was bolstering the bad to make him agree.

"Plenty of other people did that for you. And you're not _killing_ me, you're just _not_ saving me. Everyone gets what they want if you just put that vial back in your pocket, your family is still cared for, you don't have to worry about me hurting them like your stepdad did. Just tell Crystal it didn't work or that there's no cure depending on what you've told her already."

"I don't think I can," Michael admitted as another coughing fit wracked John's body.

"Well just sleep on it at least? Consider it," John pleaded and Michael sighed, seeing no reason why not as he shoved it back in his pocket which caused relief to flood John's face, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, I'm still leaning towards saving you," Michael commented, feeling annoyed at the situation in general as he stalked towards the door.

"You know if you _do_ save me then I'm going to kill myself anyway," John called after him, "Maybe I'll take your family with me."

Michael had reached the door but turned back to give John a look of loathing, angry he'd suggest that even if he was bluffing. He opened the door to leave just as Ivy was trying to enter, he saw she was now in a night dress her clutching a book to her chest along with a jar of bluebell flames. He felt a sliver of sadness as he saw her still missing two fingers.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked of her.

"John always used to read me a bedtime story but now's too sick so I'm going to read him a bedtime story," Ivy told him innocently as if it were the most obvious thing in the word, "Excuse me."

Michael moved aside and let her enter, she clambered onto the bed while John finished another coughing fit. John pulled himself upright and propped himself against the pillows as Ivy cuddled up next to him, giving the Death Eater a smile.

"Ready for the next chapter? I've been practicing my reading like you taughted me," Ivy told him cheerfully as she nestled against him comfortably with the book.

"You've been practicing, huh?" John wondered, his tone more child friendly but sounding genuinely interested as she nodded while opening the book.

"It was a dark and stormy night in... What's that word?" Ivy started to read but seemingly became stuck on a word, she pointed it out to John.

"Sound it out like I told you."

"Can't-err-bur-y, Can't-err-bury, Canterbury?"

"Yes, well done," John praised her and gave her a rewarding smile, she beamed in return and he could practically see her confidence blooming as she went back to reading.

John wouldn't hurt her, not when he treated her like that. He wouldn't hurt any of them. Contrary to what John seemed to believe, he thought they would take his death hard. What was he supposed to do now? Michael sighed to himself sadly as he left, why could his home life _ever_ just be simple?

* * *

**Part 2: **Helping Hand

* * *

"I'm sorry you can't come with me, Mother's very strict about people staying," Auriga apologized as she hugged her goodbye.

"It's alright, Auri, don't worry about it," Martha brushed it off as she pulled away, in truth she was quite glad. She doubted the Koray household had the protection Hogwarts had so she was more likely to be attacked there, the last thing she wanted was to put her friend or her friend's family at risk, "It's only a week anyway."

"I guess," Auriga sighed and eyed her anxiously, no doubt thinking of the still uncaught attacker she had no idea was connected to the Shadows, "And don't worry, the Aurors will still be here and some of the teachers so… You know, they're on alert and things so you should still be safe."

"I don't doubt it," Martha assured her.

In fact with _less _students around there was less to watch out for and there was still a decent change her previous attacker was home for the holidays with the rest either. Although logically, she thought they wouldn't use him to go after her again unless or until he'd had some training and since Aurors were only supposed to patrol the grounds it would be suspicious to set one of their Shadow ones on her. Not impossible and she still was being more careful but she did feel reasonably at ease.

"Well you're a stronger person then I am, Marth," Auriga insisted and hugged her for a second time, "Take care and watch yourself."

"You too," Martha offered as she pulled away, giving her one last smile and a wave before joining some of her Ravenclaw friends to get a carriage.

Martha watched her go before heading back to the Hufflepuff Basement, seeing no point in standing around being glared at by Maurice and the Scamanders as they waited. Not that she could blame them for being mad at her but it still was unpleasant, she had brought it upon herself by confessing though. She managed to feel both better and worse for this, it didn't ease her guilt as much as she'd expected – if anything Scorpius' hatred made her feel worse, she still couldn't help but like him – but it had led to removing the connections without having to kill them which she supposed was the most important thing. She hoped it was enough.

She returned to her empty dormitory and threw herself down on her bed, she was the only one in her room who was staying for the break so she had it all to herself. Her eyes flickered tiredly, she had been pushing herself hard lately to practice both her dueling ability and Occlumency because she'd need one if not both if she expected to save herself from the Shadows. If it wasn't good enough then she'd die and would look out for her siblings and worry then? Martha sighed, she was too young for this. She couldn't rest her eyes though, she was meeting someone soon. She tried to distract herself reading for a while until it was a more reasonable hour to head off to meet her brother.

She headed out, wandering through the corridors and trying not to make it obvious her cloudy gray eyes skimmed the halls for knife-wielding students. The boy may have been exceptional poor at effective torture but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt all those times the knife had torn through her flesh, it was an enchanted blade so she still bore scars despite Marigold's best efforts. She'd rather not go through that again if she could help it. She cast a Disillusionment Charm upon herself and walked out into the grounds, towards the Whomping Willow. Her presence may have been unknown to any humans looking but the tree stirred, her heart started to pound as recalled what her brother had told her which he'd heard from James Potter's stories of his famous father's childhood.

It proved accurate, the tree freezing as she touched the knot and allowing her to safely move into the passageway. She lit up her wand for light and cautiously wandered through the tunnel, feeling equal parts relief and anxiety when she came up in the Shrieking Shack. It was a ruin inside, shards of furniture were scattered about the dirty rooms. Everything was either broken or covered in dust, except the walls which she guessed were part of it being rebuilt after the attack on Hogsmeade although its distance from the town had likely spared it more than most. The windows were still boarded up, you could only see out of slight cracks.

"Martha?" a familiar voice questioned and she jumped, spinning to see her brother standing there. Specifically Carver, the robust teen with beady blue eyes and shaved brutally short brown hair. He lowered his also glowing wand when he saw her as did she, he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug, "I'm so sorry, I never meant for you to get hurt."

"It's okay, I knew the risks when I agreed to help," Martha assured him as he pulled away, still looking somewhat guilty.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm still standing, aren't I?" Martha pointed out and Carver nodded quietly, "It's not important, I didn't want to see you to talk about my health."

"You didn't?" Carver wondered, sounding slightly surprised, "Because I'd understand if you want out, you'd have to travel around with Pyrrhus though since it'd pretty much seal your guilt with the Shadows."

"No, I have a plan for them."

"You do?"

"Yes," Martha insisted truthfully and moved over to the window to check outside for threats to avoid the way he was looking at her expectantly, "Occlumency. If I'm caught then I'll likely be taken to Stephan, he may be cruel but he'd use Legilimency on me before he'd torture me so I just need to make him see memories of innocence."

"You really think you can do that?" Carver scoffed dubiously as he went to check the opposite window, Martha resisted the urge to sigh at the town in the distance. Hogsmeade, where her mother resided. The mother who wanted nothing to do with her and had slammed the door in her face, she shouldn't have been surprised.

"If I can't then I'll die," Martha shrugged, she'd come to accept her twelfth birthday later in the month may be as long as her lifespan would be, "I'd rather take the risk of having to run the rest of my life. We're playing a dangerous game."

"Tell me about it," Carver sighed as they silently went to switch windows to check, "The cost of having no side, everyone is against us or would be if they knew our true allegiance was to an insane man with a shaky plan to end the war."

"Odds are we aren't getting out of this alive."

"And even if everything works out and we end the war, our names will be lost in history as generic bad people not as people who were doing the right thing."

"Good thing we're doing it for that reason not for the glory," Martha pointed out as they turned back to each other, Carver was nodding.

"And on that subject, you'll be delighted to know our father's last child was born last day of December, happy and healthy," Carver informed her and Martha felt a bubble of happiness that the last child had been alright, she knew her father would've wanted that. Despite his flaws he had cared for his children, "A baby boy, his mother named him Decimus."

"Good to know," Martha nodded more happily but had to change the subject back to why she'd wanted to see him in the place, "And I have good news myself, I told Scorpius about the plan-"

"_What?!"_ Carver interrupted incredulously as his jaw dropped, "How could you-"

"I'm not done!" Martha snapped testily and her brother fell silent, glowering at her, "I told him because I felt bad after he saved my life and all, I was trying to find a way to sever the connection without killing them and Scorpius did. Except he actually succeeded."

"He _did_?!" Carver burst out again, looking shocked still, "I'd heard rumors but I… I didn't want to get my hopes up."

"Alchemy. That Rojer guy - who I _swear _could be an Ashain - mixed something up, scrubbed the scars right off them. Scorpius, the Scamanders and Orous Knox are all connection free now."

"What about Maurice?"

"He refused," Martha shook her head while Carver seemed to process this.

"That's brilliant, Martha," Carver told her, a smile creeping onto his face, "Now they don't have to die."

"So the plan would call for Orous too?"

"Him and Maurice but Pyrrhus but he wanted the other three done first, Maurice is so talented he'd have to take him on personally," Carver explained dismissively, "Plus I think he has a soft spot for the being Oathan's half-brothers, that and he mentored Maurice. But now none of them have to die, those four are done and if it can be done then I can get Pyrrhus to look into it to get Maurice."

"Glad I could help. Now what exactly does the rest of the plan entail?" Martha questioned cautiously and the smile slowly crept back off her brother's face, "I know it's a risk for me to know but I'd like to, maybe I can help and maybe I can tell Scorpius to get Gray involved so they can help now they don't have to die."

"I don't think so," Carver shook his head with a sad sigh, "They'd never go for it."

"Why not?"

"Are they upset about Antonius being missing?"

"Well yeah."

"Then they won't," Carver insisted and she looked at him expectantly, wanting to know that at least, "The five of them may get to live but a side effect of the plan… It kind of dooms Antonius to die."

"Oh," Martha muttered, her spirits sinking, "Well that…"

"Sucks," Carver finished her sentence for her, looking rather guilty, "They wouldn't go for that, they wouldn't be willing to sacrifice a ten year old to save the world."

"And we are?"

"That's why we won't be remembered as heroes after they burn us alive," Carver said sadly and sighed again as he stared at the ground unhappily, "Finding another way is not proving productive, bloody souls."

"One life is better than six, I guess," Martha offered quietly, feeling more disheartened herself to know what the plan entails.

"Does that mean you feel any better?"

"Not really."

"Me neither," Carver admitted, "You've pushed the plan ahead though, now we just Maurice disconnected, Antonius prepared and Calderon. I need to speak to Leebin. I also need to get back, Viola will be suspicious if I'm not back soon."

"Okay," Martha nodded in understanding and Carver gave another hug, "I love you, brother."

"I love you too, watch your back."

* * *

Maurice went home with Cade and Orous, he'd not wanted to stay alone back in Hogwarts. Not when this time last year he'd stayed there with Lenore for the Easter break, he'd really rather like to not be alone with his thoughts if possible. Cade seemed uncommonly nervous but it wasn't until the next day he realized why when the firefighter sat Orous down after dinner.

_So Orous,_ Cade began nervously and ran his hand over his shaven bald head, _There was something I wanted to talk to you about_

_What_, Orous wondered, looking more nervous himself.

_Well you know how your mother is no longer with us and all. I um I started dating again_

_Really_

_Yes really_, Cade explained with a nervous nod to Orous' expression of surprise, _Her name is Tabitha. We've been dating the better part of a year right now and I um I'd really like for you to meet her_

_I'd love to meet her_, Orous assured him with a smile that seemed slightly forced unlike Cade, who beamed in response.

_That's great, I'll tell her over for lunch tomorrow and you boys can meet her then_

_I look forward to it_, Orous said before they both got up to go to bed while Cade started punching in digits on his telephone. As they went upstairs, Maurice noticed the cheery expression faded from his brother's face.

"Something wrong?" Maurice questioned as the paused in the corridor, about to go into their separate rooms on opposite sides.

_No_, Orous' words appeared very quickly, _too_ quickly and his twin seemed to realize the obvious lie as he turned to face him, _I guess I'm just nervous about him dating this women. If it goes badly and he gets hurt again. I don't want that_

"She's not, he'd be acting differently if under the effects of Love Potion, he's no more at risk then the regular fools who put their hearts on the line. What else?" Maurice prompted, sensing there was more to it than that and Orous twiddled his thumbs for a minute as he gazed at the ground.

_Is it selfish to worry that it'll go really well. So well that he won't want anything to do with us anymore since he'll have a new family with his wife and maybe kids. What if he decides his family is happier when we're not part of it. I wouldn't blame him _

"Orous, look at me," Maurice said seriously and took his brother's shoulders gently, forcing Orous' crimson eyes to meet his own oceanic shade, "Cade raised you since you were a helpless infant, he stuck out an abusive marriage for you, he kept you even after your biological mother left, he stayed even after everything you've been through, he got legal guardianship after you died to ensure he could keep you. Clearly he's determined to stick with you for the long haul, if he stays with you through the bad times then why would he leave you in the good times? Besides, why would he be so worried about your opinion if he was planning on leaving you? Because he's not, Orous, he's more loyal to you then our real parents combined."

Orous nodded, looking more at ease before shrugging off Maurice's arms and throwing him an annoyed look as he went back into his room. Still mad at him. Maurice sighed and returned back into his own room, trying to push it out of his mind.

Maurice had been looking forward to meeting Cade's girlfriend, if only so he could try gauge the likeliness of her being a Shadow or a threat in general. He doubted she was and doubted it even more after meeting her, Maurice found the whole lunch quite amusing really. Both Orous and Tabitha seemed to be trying very hard to be nice to each other, Orous had even combed his hair and put on a nice shirt for the occasion. Much of the meal consisted of them nervously smiling and trying to make polite conversation while Cade glanced between the pair anxiously, clearly worried the pair wouldn't get along. She asked Orous about his classes in Hogwarts, he asked about her work as a Healer in St Mungo's.

Maurice wasn't paying much attention as he found it rather boring, he knew enough about both Healing and Orous' classwork to not have much interest. It was almost amusing seeing the pair being overly nice to each other though, he thought they probably would get along. He didn't contribute much to the conversation and didn't say much if she questioned him, after all he wasn't Cade's son like Orous was. Tabitha didn't strike him as a Shadow and he managed to check her wand discretely for signs of the Shadow corruption, it was clean. After the lunch he went to help Cade with the dishes, tactically leaving Tabitha and Orous to talk more.

"Relax, Cade," Maurice told the still nervous-looking man, starting to give him an encouraging smile before catching a glimpse of a flash of light reflected in a spoon.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Cade and pulled them both to the ground behind the island. A cabinet above them exploded into a shower of splinters as the stunner struck it, usually Maurice was perfectly fine with being deaf but hearing would be rather useful in that particular instance since he had no line of sight of either the attacker, Tabitha, Orous or the dogs so no way to gauge if they were alright.

He poked his head out the side of the island counter, more surprised than he really should have been to see Pyrrhus Florian as the attacker. Tabitha grabbed Orous and disapparated them both before a spell could hit them so it instead hit the doors to the garden, Pyrrhus seemed to be alone though and he was glad Cade's new girlfriend had the presence of mind to take his brother to safety. He quickly cast a non-verbal anti-apparation spell though, he didn't want to throw herself back into the fold and get in the way nor did he want Pyrrhus to be able to flee or for more people to be able to appear behind him.

"Take the dogs and run for your life when I distract him," Maurice told Cade firmly, it wasn't a discussion and the muggle had no place in a magical duel, "Tabitha and Orous will be getting help."

He didn't wait for a reply or even see if Cade had heard him as he cast a spell to launch the island counter out at Pyrrhus, Pyrrhus leaped over it effortlessly but it gave Maurice a chance to jump to his feet and fire a barrage of stunners at his former mentor. Pyrrhus levitated the counter, throwing it back in the path in a whiplash motion to take the hits while Cade rushed to grab the dogs and flee while he had the chance.

Maurice cast a spell to cause the ground to lurch under Pyrrhus' feet while his vision was blocked by the counter being pummeled to bits by his stunners, he saw Pyrrhus' feet being thrown backwards but he sent the counter hurtling back at him. Maurice cast the Blasting Curse at it to blow it to smithereens, freezing the explosion in midair and transfiguring the shards masterfully into a hail of jagged knife-like shapes that he hurled back down at Pyrrhus who was only just getting back onto his feet.

He conjured a hovering wooden shield that the knives plunged into instead, Maurice launched a flurry of flames at him to burn it away. Pyrrhus transfigured it into wall of water, reducing his fire to steam that filled the room reducing Maurice's capacity to see. In fact, he was sure Pyrrhus was making it worse purposefully to stop him seeing as the room was filling more much densely then he would've expected, so much so that he lost sight of his attacker. He cast a charm to cause a high pitched sound as he crept forwards, trying to vanish the steam as quickly as possible while Pyrrhus was hopefully occupied by the distraction.

Out of nowhere he felt a spell strike him in the back, sending him hurtling through space until he collided painfully with a wall while a Disarming Charm hit him from where Pyrrhus' direction to send his wand from his hand. He thudded back to ground but his wand arm became snagged on the wall as a segment snaked out to bind his wrist to it, he flicked his eyes around both to take in the scene and to locate his wand. Pyrrhus was standing in the same general direction scowling and rubbing his ear with one hand while he finished vanishing the smoke with the other, in the kitchen area he saw a man that had to Michael's father vanishing in a blur of shadow.

Maurice mentally kicked himself, of _course_ why would anti-apparation charms matter when Pyrrhus had an ally who could transport himself like the Specters could? He spotted his wand though and stretched out his left hand to reach it while Pyrrhus approached him, it shot even further away from him and he glanced at his former mentor. Pyrrhus had an expression of guilt on his face, would he really kill him? After everything? He felt a pang of sadness but tried to ignore it as he focused on wandless magic to will his wand back to him, his heart beating fast as Pyrrhus raised his wand. He wasn't sure if he could be faster.

Pyrrhus didn't make the movement for the Killing Curse though, he brought his wand down in a flashing movement. Maurice screamed as his wrist exploded in agony, he dragged his eyes back in horror to see his left hand had been severed along with some of his wrist. He felt like he was going throw up or pass out, he tried not to panic. Limbs could be reattached, they could. Maurice felt as if he'd entered a very surreal dream as Pyrrhus picked up his own left hand and wrist engraved with words upon words, the connection scar was no longer part of him. And then Pyrrhus lit it on fire.

"NO!" Maurice screamed desperately and felt unexpected tears flying from his eyes, they couldn't reattach a limb if Pyrrhus destroyed it, "DON'T! DON'T! I NEED MY HAND! I NEED IT! NO!"

'I'm sorry,' Pyrrhus signed, looking apologetic as he dropped Maurice's hand to the ground to let it burn, 'You have to be disconnected and you refused. It's either this or death.'

"NO!" Maurice cried again helplessly, sobbing like a pathetic child as he watched his hand incinerated into ash. Rage and pain bubbled within him as he turned back to Pyrrhus, "YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS! I'LL KILL YOU! MY HAND! YOU DESTROYED MY HAND! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOUR WHOLE SICK FAMILY!"

'Don't be like that, you had your chance to safely disconnect yourself but you refused,' Pyrrhus signed calmly, 'And if you did that, you'll only be killing your own brother. We're on the side, Maurice, we both want the war to end. I'm just the only one actually doing something.'

"WE'RE NOT ON THE SAME SIDE! NEVER! NOT LIKE THIS! YOU DESTROYED MY HAND!" Maurice shrieked hysterically, still crying through his rage and agony as Pyrrhus morphed back into a butterfly or a moth or whatever the hell it was, "RUN THEN BUT YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER YOU SON OF A B- What wait the fuck do you mean I'll kill my own brother?!"

Pyrrhus flew away though and Maurice passed out before he was even out of sight.

* * *

**Part 3: **Lining Up

* * *

Scorpius returned home with his mother, although he thought 'home' was feeling less like 'home' since he spent the majority of the year in Hogwarts. He spent the majority of the evening with his family, being questioned on his NEWTs, Quidditch and Apparation. Maybe it was just his imagination but he thought they looked disappointed at his failures, they encouraged him everyone lost or struggled with something however and that he shouldn't be disheartened. There was also the toddlers, Sol was becoming more vocal and thought everything Scorpius described was 'awesoon' while Lysel seemed too weak to do more than nod and smile. He was looking rough, his skin had a grayish tinge to it and lines engraved in his face before their time. He seemed to want to be part of the group still, not miss anything.

"The boy should be out of our hair soon enough," his father told him when his mother went to put the toddlers to bed, "Myriam's recovering, her spine was severely damaged so she's had a slow struggle with walking again. I can't wait, its stressful having a werewolf in the house."

"It's _stressful_ having a werewolf in the house?" Scorpius repeated incredulously while his father just nodded.

"They transform and it's terrifying, we haven't been giving him Wolfsbane so there's the added fear his calmness will revert into violent biting even though I put him in the basement. He has all his baby teeth now, I'm pretty sure he can still infect people."

"He's_ two_ years old," Scorpius hissed, very much trying to keep his cool and not yell, "You don't think it's even more terrifying for a small child to go through the agonizing transformation and all the weakness that goes along with it? And now he's locked up in a strange basement-"

"I put lots of blankets and pillows down, its comfortable plus Astoria checks on him and stuff," his father insisted but Scorpius didn't care and didn't stop.

"-all alone since his parents can't be with him, he could've lost his whole family and may never see his father again, he could _die _from his condition. And yet, you still have the nerve to sit there and complain how bad it is for _you_?"

"Don't talk to me like that I'm your Father."

"And what would you have done if I'd been bitten instead of Michael, huh?" Scorpius demanded of him, causing his father's eyes to widen in shock, "Would you lock me up? Or would you lock me out of the house completely and disown me?"

"Of course not, you're my son."

"But it's okay to treat Lysel that way?"

"Lysel isn't my son," his father stated as if it were obvious.

"So it's okay to treat people like animals as long as they're not your son? You're pathetic," Scorpius spat angrily as he stood, earning a narrowing of his father's eyes, "You think you're a good person but you're not, not being evil doesn't make you good and not being a Malfoy doesn't make them less then you! Show some fucking compassion for someone outside of yourself for once in your life!"

"How dare you speak to me like that?! Go to your room!"

"Gladly!" Scorpius shot out at him as he stormed off to his room in a rage, still feeling quite passionate on the whole werewolf issue.

He fell into an angry sleep and still wasn't happy the next day, he made his appearance at breakfast and purposefully avoided conversing with his father. He'd avoid his grandmother too since he knew she shared similar beliefs but she wouldn't even have breakfast at the same time as they did while Lysel was around, he couldn't wait to get away to Varanian. After excusing himself, he returned to his room and portkeyed over to the familiar dilapidated wreck – only on the outside – where Gray resided and he could fill Varanian in on everything.

"Interesting," Varanian mused after Scorpius explained about the connection removal, showing him the now unscarred wrist, "I never did much on the soul branch of Alchemy to be honest, it seemed kind of dark. I regret it now, it seems it could have its uses."

"That's my thinking," Scorpius nodded in agreement as he pulled his sleeve back down, "So what's new here? Any progress with finding Antonius? Or Calderon? Or even Leebin? What can I do to help?"

"Not really, no change with Calderon and Florian's a nightmare. The shadow teleporting Jack does cannot be traced so every time I'm tracking them, the trail goes dead when he does that and I have to find them again from scratch when they could be anywhere in England. Antonius is still alive though and able-bodied so he's not being harmed too badly if at all."

"So what can I do?"

"Well, you need to work on your apparation," Varanian stated and Scorpius felt his spirits sink, he was sick of apparation and failing at it, "It's an important magical skill that you need to learn, you won't even have access to extra classes because you have a summer birthday. We don't want you to have to take classes again next year."

"What kind of loser has to take classes again next year?" Scorpius complained and Varanian's cheeks suddenly burned a bright shade of red, "Did you-"

"I was perfect at apparation and got it first try, shut up," Varanian snapped at him stubbornly as he stood.

"I think you're confusing that with _me_," Annie pointed out and they both turned to see her leaning in the doorway watching them with a smirk.

"No, _you're_ the one who nearly blinds yourself every time you use _Lumos,_" Varanian quipped as he went over to her, a smile creeping onto his own face.

"Good comeback, too bad it's an obvious attempt to change the subject," Annie pointed out readily, "And for the record, I don't _always_ do that."

"You're right, the other times you _do_ actually blind yourself."

"Ah, but I'm still the apparation queen."

"Well then _you_ can teach him apparation while I get back to tracking people."

"That sounds awfully tedious."

"So is the burden of being apparation queen," Varanian insisted playfully to which Annie snorted in amusement before he planted a kiss on her lips, Scorpius guessed they must still be a thing, "I'll see you later. Bye Scorpius."

"Bye," Scorpius and Annie offered in unison as Varanian left, Annie watching him go before turning sharply to Scorpius, "So ready to apparate?"

Scorpius spent the next several hours still trying and failing to apparate, taking into account his parents' tips, what he'd already learned and Annie's own method… He _still _failed. He completely and utterly failed, he didn't know why. He was trying his best really and truly doing what he'd been told, he didn't understand why he was struggling so badly. Latimer came out to help him instead while Annie went to make dinner for those around, even then Scorpius continued to fail. Wyatt, Austin and even Roman – the only ones around - also offered advice which he tried and still failed after dinner. He returned home feeling extremely disheartened, he knew apparation was supposed to be difficult but this badly? For _him_?

He wasn't looking forward to the next day, he didn't want to spend the break failing at apparation. He wanted to do something, something _useful_. Or at the very least succeed at the damn thing in the first place, how was he supposed to do anything if he couldn't apparate? He trudged down unhappily for breakfast, the toddlers were sitting doodling excitedly as they'd already finished. He peered at the childish scribbles politely as he sat, noting Sol drawing a person shape and… a rabbit?

"Ik me and Lysel when his a fluffy doggy," Sol explained happily.

"It's very nice," Scorpius offered kindly despite feeling the opposite while Sol beamed as he continued scribbling.

"I add you now."

"Do you stay wit Michael when he's turns?" Lysel questioned of him curiously and Scorpius looked at the young boy in surprise.

"How'd you know Michael is a werewolf?" Scorpius asked of him and Lysel shrugged.

"I just knows. He smells like me."

"You can smell who is a werewolf?"

"Yes," Lysel stated with a nod without stopping on his picture, "Michael and Mummy and the mans from the Still Human and the Ministrying man all are like me. You're not like me but don't worries, I still like you becaused I'm not the prejuiced."

"That's amazing," Scorpius pointed out truthfully, he didn't think normal werewolves can do that.

"Yes, I's am special," Lysel confirmed dismissively as he continued, "Lysel Logan Leebin the firstest born to be the werewolf and can keep of his own mind is so specialer but he will die. That's what they say, I's heard of them say."

"Very good. What are you drawing?" Scorpius inquired politely and peered at Lysel's drawing, some kind of house with a couple of stick figures.

"Mummy and Daddy and Maurene and me," Lysel explained and pointed at them each in turn, "My famlily that was go away, I missed them. And this is where that we stayed when our house was destroyeded, Uncool Hogan's farm he didn't use."

"Wait, what?" Scorpius wondered, feeling a chill creep down his spine as things started slipping into place. Hogan didn't live there, hadn't he complained about letting Leebin's family stay before? Leebin knew Calderon's location, what if he'd volunteered his uncle's farm? "Lysel, where is this farm?"

"Field."

"What field? What do you remember about it?"

"I don't know," Lysel shrugged again as his mother walked back into the room with some more colors for the boys, he'd have to go to an adult, "There was grass."

"Mother, how is Myriam doing?" Scorpius questioned of her, trying not to sound desperate, "I'd really like to see how she is, she's a good person."

"You'll see her in a couple days," his mother answered helpfully as she sat down, "She gets out of St Mungo's then and I offered her a room here for a few days to ease back into things."

"Okay, I'm very glad."

Scorpius made idle conversation with his mother, who at least wasn't a prejudiced pig like some of his family and spent some futile time with the toddlers in hopes of gleaming any further information from Lysel. Alas, it was to no avail. After lunch he retreated to his room, portkeying over to the hideout to spread the good news. He found Varanian standing idly and oddly around as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

"I think I may have figured out where Calderon is," Scorpius blurted out and Varanian glanced at him in surprise, "We know Leebin knows his location and I just remember Leebin's uncle has this abandoned muggle farm place that's been in the family for a while but unused, I think Leebin might have offered it as a place to store Calderon. I don't know the exact location but I'll get to speak to Leebin's wife in a few days so I should know then."

"Interesting," Varanian mused, "I'll give my in-laws a call and have them look into it, see if they can track this place down if the wife doesn't know."

"Great," Scorpius grinned, pleased at the thought of finally doing something useful. Unlike Varanian who continued standing around, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know, being distracted? Waiting?" Varanian guessed as he took a seat at the kitchen table, Scorpius with him, "Dom's in labor, she wanted Annie to deliver it so they're upstairs plus Aurelius and Molly for moral support."

"I didn't realize you were so invested in Dom and Aurelius' child."

"I'm not, it just makes me think of my own kids. Before they died, they… they were alive and born just like that baby is," Varanian explained sadly, his burn scars usually hidden by his metamorphmagi ability looking more livid than ever before he swallowed, "Want to go practice apparating?"

"Sure," Scorpius agreed, forcing a smile through gritted teeth. He figured Varanian could use a distraction.

Despite Varanian's best attempts and insistence he needed to practice, Scorpius found he was _still _struggling with apparation. He didn't know what his problem was, he couldn't even splinch himself. When did he start being so terrible at magic? Varanian actually apparated himself to make sure he hadn't accidentally left anti-apparation wards up, he also tried apparating with Scorpius for a bit to get him a bit more used to the feel of it. But when Scorpius tried alone? Still nothing. He found it incredibly frustrating.

It didn't help when Wyatt returned with news of Florian having attacked Maurice either, cut off his hand. Healers thought he'd be alright though, he'd gotten help quickly but he had no hand. If Scorpius had to guess, he'd say Florian had been trying to sever Maurice's connection since he'd refused. Sadly, he lamented Maurice's lost hand and how the refusal had turned out badly for him in the end. He supposed it could be worse though, at least Florian had tried to find a way that spared his friend's life.

It knocked his concentration further though and he headed back home in the evening, Dom hadn't even had her baby yet so Molly was still occupied as well. The next day was hopefully the last until he could speak to Myriam, he still went over to Varanian's when he had the chance though in case his in-laws had gotten back to him. Scorpius wasn't sure how he expected them to help but he'd take it, he did still want his cousin and Leebin saved ideally despite his preoccupation with Antonius. When he arrived, he found Varanian, Annie and Aurelius in the kitchen. Aurelius walking around with a bundle of blankets in his arms.

"I see the baby was born," Scorpius commented lamely.

"No, Aurelius likes carrying transfiguring birds to newborns and carrying them around," Annie quipped sarcastically but Aurelius ignored her as he smiled.

"He was born in the early hours of the morning, Dom is sleeping now because she was kind of worn out. Understandably," Aurelius offered in explanation and paused to show Scorpius the child, the little one already with a head of extremely dark auburn hair and stared sleepily at them with already dark chestnut eyes. No doubt he was a descendant of Ashylos, "Was hoping for a girl but got this little guy instead, he's adorable though. And small but then he is a couple of days early, Brutus and Atticus were bigger. I forgot how cute babies are. And cuddly."

"Congratulations," Scorpius said with a smile for the newest Ashain, wondering idly what his favorite professor or the Shadow Master's lieutenant would think of their new baby half-brother, "Have you decided on a name?"

"Cres," Aurelius told him as he cradled the baby close once more, beaming down at his son who had no idea the bizarre family he'd been born into, "Crescentius Arthur. You know after Dom's grandfather, he died recently."

"It's a nice gesture."

"I think I'll go check on Dom actually, see if she's still asleep."

"Did you speak to Leebin's wife?" Varanian asked of him as Aurelius left with the baby.

"Not yet, did you hear back from your in-laws?"

"Not yet," Varanian admitted with a shake of his head, "Want to go out and practice apparating some more?"

"Err… No," Scorpius said quickly, dreading another failure session, "I wanted to spend some time with my girlfriend. Make sure she gets her birthday presents for later this month."

"You know you won't get it if you _don't _practice."

"I know, I know."

"She's in her room," Annie offered helpfully.

"Thank you."

Scorpius retrieved Molly's gifts before going to visit his girlfriend, she was looking even more tired than the last time he'd seen her – he supposed she probably had been up most of the night with Dom - but seemed pleased to see him regardless. She was quite excited about her new baby cousin, Freddie and his girlfriend Caitlin's second child was also due next month. Molly predicted it would be another girl, Scorpius was inclined to agree as he'd learned before with Sol not to argue with a Seer about such matters. They caught up on things that had happened in their lives since Christmas that couldn't be sent safely through letters, they also snogged for quite a while. He was in better spirits when he returned home.

* * *

Atticus Ashain strode out of Hogwarts not for the first time, despising seeing the lush grass and colorful blooming flowers of the springtime. How _dare_ they be so beautiful when his son was missing? He was a wreck because of it, thoughts never stopped bouncing around in his brain of all the horrible things Florian could be doing to his son and all the different ways Florian could possibly kill his son and all the things Florian could do with his son's body. He barely managed to pick at his food and his felt raw from not sleeping, every time he closed his eyes he had nightmares about losing his son.

He'd had enough, he wanted his son back and he'd actually thought of something productive to do. While he had no desire to speak to his ex-wife anymore, he thought maybe he could glean some new information from talking to her. So he headed off to Hogsmeade where he was able to disapparate more noisily then usual to get back to the neighborhood he'd once called home, it felt like anything but now. He wondered why he'd even bothered to not appear inside as he knocked on the door, just because Skye didn't like it? Well screw Skye, she'd lost her right to an opinion when she sold out their son to a psychopath. He whipped out his wand and blew the door off its hinges, he heard Skye shriek in terror before she saw him.

"What the hell, Att-"

"Tell me what happened!" Atticus barked at her as he stormed in, trying hard not to instinctively raise his wand at her, "The day you sold out our child, tell me what happened._ Exactly_ what happened."

"Why?" Skye wondered in a mixture of confusion and anger, "Why should I tell you anyway after you just barged into my house and blew up my door?!"

"I don't know! Maybe because you love the son you carried, gave birth to and raised before you turned your back on him and I'm trying to save his freaking life!"

"Have you ever thought maybe it's best to just let Florian use him for whatever you needed him for and wait to return him? He said he wouldn't hurt him."

"Skye, he's a fucking psychopath! Newsflash: psychopaths _lie_!" Atticus screamed at her angrily – he refused to forgive her for betraying their son - and she sighed heavily.

"You still didn't have to destroy my door," Skye complained and Atticus jabbed his wand at the displaced door, casting a non-verbal _Reducto_ to reduce it to a pile of ash, "What do you even want to know?!"

"Just tell me what happened when Antonius was taken."

"There's not much to say," Skye insisted as she folded her arms, "Florian showed up, Tony took out his wand-"

"Wait, what?" Atticus interrupted in confusion.

"He's my son, I don't see what your problem with calling him _Tony_ i-"

"Not about that, what do you mean he took out his wand? He doesn't _have_ a wand."

"Yes he does," Skye stated firmly.

"Are you sure he didn't just grab a stick or-"

"He's used _magic _with it, Atty, actual magic with words and spell," Skye cut him off while Atticus could only feel confused, "That seems like a wand to me, I figured you got it for him."

"Well I didn't," Atticus insisted firmly as fresh waves of thought rolled inside his skull, how, where and why in the world did his son have a wand? The water was icy, after all he suddenly had a sneaking suspicion this secret wand related to why Antonius was taken in the first place.

* * *

Carver lay anxiously on his bunk in the accommodation the Shadows provided, he was fully dressed and it wasn't night but he just needed to think. And get away from Viola's prying eyes. She didn't make it easy to keep Pyrrhus apprised of the hunt situation, she followed him around constantly. He wasn't sure if she suspected his treachery or just didn't like the other Soul Eaters, she seemed to think herself above them since she was an Elite – although due to her father spoiling her she lacked the skills most from the Training Tower possessed – while they were not. Personally, Carver thought she should be nicer to people she relied so heavily on since she was very limited in her magic due to the Trace being on her.

"Carver!" a familiar voice cried happily.

Carver jolted upright in shock, spinning his head so fast he thought he heard his head snap to see none other than James Sirius Potter standing in the doorway. He was looking very well, somehow looking much more like he belonged in Soul Eater robes then he ever had in Gryffindor ones. He had a nice tan to add to his already handsome face from being in the Mediterranean, making his freckles less noticeable. His mother's bright brown eyes remained unchanged although he had grown out his father's untidy jet black hair more, he smiled and Carver jumped down from his bunk to see him.

"Long time, no see, eh?" James commented as they embraced.

"Yeah," Carver said distractedly as they pulled away, he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but… well, he hadn't expected James to be doing so well as a Shadow considering his morals, "How are you doing, Jay?"

"Awesome," James told him brightly, sounding exceptionally genuine, "Being a Soul Eater is like the best thing that ever happened to me."

"What about hating them and thinking they were bad?"

"Well I was misguided, wasn't I? They saved me when my own family turned their backs on me. I didn't realize how great they are, we're changing the world for the better and I get to be a part of it. I get to live in luxury, there are servants to do things for me, I get taught lots of cool things. And I torture Leebin for information, I'm in complete control of his treatment. It's a blast, like all my dreams come true."

"Leebin…" Carver repeated sadly, although he supposed James beating him was far from the worst he could be treated, "What are you doing in England anyway?"

"Aren't you pleased to see me?" James questioned, looking hurt.

"Of course, I'm just curious about what changed," Carver offered truthfully and James relaxed somewhat.

"The Shadow Master's going after England on June 6th if all goes to plan with Mexico and Japan, they're starting to preemptively more people here including me," James answered with a dismissive shrug, "Besides, I reckon Leebin's going to break soon and since Calderon's in England it makes sense to be here when he does because the information can be passed along faster. How have you been?"

"Just trying to track my uncle mostly," Carver admitted with a shrug of his own, both afraid for England for the impending Shadow attack and hopeful about Leebin. With any luck he may just be able to save the man, talk to him and find out Calderon's location, the last piece of the puzzle now the five were descarred thanks to some brilliant work from Martha. He just needed to think how to phrase it in a way to not tip James off, clearly he'd been brainwashed by them and didn't seem likely to agree with his plan right now except not for the same reasons Carver had doubts, "Any chance I can see Leebin? After we grab a bite and catch up of course."

"Sure," James grinned in oblivious agreement.


	13. Chapter 13: Tortured Souls

_**Parts (50-53)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 13  
**

Tortured Souls

* * *

**Part 1: **The Day Before Tomorrow

* * *

Carver kind of wished he hadn't decided to speak to James first, by the sounds of it his initial thought that James had just beaten Leebin seemed to be inaccurate. James seemed quite proud and happy to discuss the torture techniques he'd learned, as well as things he'd done to Leebin. He was quite disturbed and concerned, James was a good person but he had a dark streak. He would've hoped being forced to torture someone would make James sympathize with his victim, not revel in unchecked sadism relishing Leebin's pain. He wished he could say it was all the Shadows warping James' mind but… well he would be lying if he said that, they may have helped but weren't solely responsible. He could only hope once he was away from them, it would diminish James' drive to hurt. He didn't think wearing Leebin's wedding ring as a 'trophy' was a good sign.

Feeling more anxious then he had before, Carver was still glad when he had finally exhausted conversation with James and was allowed to see Leebin. He'd been taken to the basement of a farmhouse they'd acquired for such things, the isolation of farm buildings were why they made for good Shadow bases. He heard Leebin's screams before he saw him, descending into the dim gloom to find a Soul Eater lazily cruciating him. Thankfully he stopped when they entered and Carver had to do a double take, for a minute he thought Leebin was an Inferi. The toll the torture had taken on his health was immediately noticeable.

Leebin was curled up in a ball naked facing away from them, he was gaunt and skeletal with every bone shape of his emaciated frame visible. It made it more obvious his bones were damaged, outright broken or misshapen because they didn't even allow him a simple spell to heal them to prolong his pain, some were actually jutting out of his skin the break was so bad. That was another thing: skin. He didn't look pale anymore, he was literally black and blue with some shades of purple or yellow, every inch of flesh Carver could see was bruised. And the flesh itself had been brutalized, the closer he got to him the more obvious it was that he was a mess of fresh wounds melding in with scar tissue.

He had lines from cuts, welts from whips, holes from stabbing instruments or drilling things, patches of varying degrees of burns, jagged areas his flesh had been ripped and bloody places where the flesh had been peeled away completely or thinner areas where it must've started to been regrown magically, some spaces looked an absolute mess which he'd guess was where James had decided to use a grater. All overlapping leaving his body a broken mess, Carver noticed nails and hooks still protruding from his body as well. He wanted to throw up he was so sickened and cry just out of sympathy, he glanced at James who was smiling as his eyes rolled lecherously over Leebin. Was James really so delusional he didn't see what he'd done?

"Here he is, the pretty boy," James announced happily and casually kicked his victim in passing, Leebin whimpered.

"Can I talk to him alone?" Carver asked as he forced himself to swallow his bile, still wanting to gag and the smell didn't help. James looked at him questioningly, "It's personal, okay?"

"Okay, just don't take too long," James said and gestured for the other man to leave, the unhappy looking Healer remained while the Soul Eater left without question. James started to leave as well before pausing to look back at him, "Or if you do then talk and torture, he can't get too much of a reprieve or it'll undo all the work I've done to break him."

"Got it," Carver agreed and James nodded in satisfaction as he left, not that Carver had any intention of doing so. Quite the opposite, he had the overwhelming desire to save Leebin now, it was the Healer he turned to though, "And you, out. Privacy includes being away from you."

"I have to stay in case he is hurt too badly and needs to be healed," the Healer protested.

"Well you don't need to worry about that right now, beat it, take a toilet break or something," Carver insisted determinedly and the Healer eyed him suspiciously but left regardless.

Carver took a deep breath now that he was finally alone and finished crossing the distance to Leebin, only seeing more abuse. The soles of his feet were a bloody mess, most of his toes severed, cut in half or if they were intact they were without fingernails. It killed any thought of helping Leebin to escape right now, he doubted the man could stand with his injures let alone walk. His hands were similarly mutilated, there were more of them but they had the added bonus of several being wrenched violently to different angles almost certainly leaving them currently unusable. He wasn't bound surprisingly or maybe not, Leebin wasn't going anywhere in the state he was in. Sadly Carver crouched by him.

Even Leebin's neck bore marks as if strangled and an older scar that looked like werewolf damage, he lip was split while his face in general was blotchy and swollen from bruises albeit not as bad as the rest of his body but the skin still had an unhealthy grayish tinge. He was no longer wearing glasses but had scars on his eyelids and around the eye area, his eyes were heavily bagged from exhaustion as he hadn't slept since his capture even as they used potions to ensure it didn't kill him but it wouldn't ease the extreme discomfort. They really were keeping him just barely alive, every line on his face was engraved in pain. His hair was longer since he'd last seen him, it was a tangled mess matted with grime and blood, he also had the beginnings of a beard. He was shaking, either from cold, fear or the residual effects of the Cruciatus Curse Carver didn't know. He seemed to force his scared eyes back open as best he could to look at him, they were bloodshot.

"C-Carver?" Leebin rasped weakly in a hoarse voice, Carver tried to smile comfortingly but couldn't muster it. He still felt like breaking down crying on behalf of Leebin.

"Are you thirsty?" Carver asked as he conjured a canteen that he started filling with water, recalling he was also dehydrated and figuring it could help account for Leebin's voice. Leebin made a small motion with his head that Carver wasn't sure was an attempt to nod or shake his head, he flinched fearfully when Carver tried to offer it him, "It's not filled with scalding water, really, I'm not going to hurt you."

Leebin continued to eye him warily so Carver poured a little on his face to prove it, Leebin relaxed very slightly but still looked fearful. Carver helped him into a sitting position as gently as possible – failing miserably considering how much Leebin cringed in pain – and allowed Leebin to lean against him weakly so he could put the canteen to his mouth, Leebin gulped it down readily with a flicker of refreshment on his face.

"Th-Thank you," Leebin said weakly and Carver refilled it, Leebin started drinking gratefully once more and trying – and failing – to raise his broken hands to help hold it.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Carver wondered worriedly as Leebin finished a second canteen, Carver filled it wordlessly to let him have as much as possible. Water was the least he could do but also the best, he didn't know too much about healing spells.

"Everything… hurts," Leebin admitted and Carver put the canteen to his lips again.

"I'm sorry, really," Carver stated truthfully and tried to work up the courage to get to his point since he didn't know much time he had, "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Carver, I'm only just barely managing to keep my _own_ mind intact right now," Leebin insisted, sounding a bit more like his old self as he finished the next canteen, "I can't help you."

"Look, I'm not really a Shadow. I'm just pretending so I can help my uncle evade capture and keep an eye on them," Carver continued anyway as he started refilling the canteen again, "This is the short version because I don't know how much time we have. My uncle is Pyrrhus Florian, he has a plan to stop the Shadow Master and I'm kind of helping him with it."

"Okay," Leebin muttered disinterestedly as he started on the water again.

"But the thing is it would result in Antonius Ashain dying. Ashylos' wand the third piece of the Scepter survived and came into Antonius' possession, it's bound to him now which gives him a connection to the rest of the Scepter. He'll be able to summon it from the Shadow Master so we can destroy it, strip her of that power so Calderon will be able to defeat her. _But_ to make sure she can't interfere, we need to add extra magic to Antonius' soul through Jack/One the merged soul of a muggle and a Specter who can do it but they can't see Antonius' soul because it's broken so they won't be able to remove it. Antonius will die if it can't be removed so if we go through with the plan then he'll die. So there's my dilemma, is it worth one child's life to stop the Shadow Master and end the war?"

"Carver, you don't need external validation here. You need to look inside _yourself_, only you know where your own moral boundaries lie," Leebin told him as he finished the canteen and his head lolled weakly.

"Well what would you do?" Carver questioned desperately.

"I'm not you," Leebin insisted tiredly and Carver sighed, "I'm sorry, this is a decision that only you can make."

"Alright, well can you at least tell me where Calderon is so I can get to him first?" Carver asked and to his surprise, Leebin burst out laughing. A bitter, joyless and empty laugh.

"No! Do you know how many times I've been asked that question?!"

"I'm not a Shadow, okay? I need to find him and wouldn't you rather it be me than them?" Carver said desperately, Leebin looked thoughtful for a minute and his eyes – that Carver wasn't even sure he could see out of with the damage - drifted off to an empty patch of floor before looking back.

"My dead father doesn't think I should tell you," Leebin stated and inclined his head slightly in the direction of the empty space, very much alarming Carver.

"No, Leebin you need to be sane."

"I've been tortured a lot, okay?" Leebin whimpered tearfully, "I told you I'm barely keeping it together, pain isn't healthy for the mind."

"I know but its okay, I'm going to help you," Carver told him truthfully, "Whether you tell me or not, I promise I'll get you out of here."

"You really want to help me?" Leebin wondered to which Carver nodded, "Kill me."

"What?!" Carver burst out in shock, alarmed for the second time in the conversation.

"_Kill me_," Leebin repeated firmly, sounding every bit as serious and desperate that Carver hoped he wasn't.

"No, come on. You don't have to die," Carver insisted, hurt and horrified at the thought of Leebin being reduced to begging for death, "They'll fix you right up in St Mungo's and you can go home to your family."

"My family?" Leebin repeated, sounding rather surprised and looked thoughtful for a minute before seemingly shaking his head of it, blinking back tears, "Please kill me, death would be a kindness."

"I'm not killing you!" Carver protested, only feeling more determined to save him while Leebin hung his head sadly, "I'll get the Aurors to come for you, I can't help you now because I'd never get away with it but I can get them to help. Just have to warn them about Cel being a Shadow and you have to warn them too?"

"Warn them?" Leebin wondered weakly, looking back up in confusion.

"The Shadow Master's going to attack England on June 6th this year, that's why they're moving more people here ready. Warn the Ministry, if they have any sense they'll try make precautions. And while we're on the subject, the Shadow Master is not Calderon but his twin. His twin _sister_, the Shadow Master's a woman and Brutus Ashain is her lover."

"Why are you telling me this?" Leebin questioned in a raspier tone and Carver went to refill the canteen again while a plan started forming in his mind.

"So you can pass it along, the good guys are sorely lacking in knowledge," Carver said truthfully while Leebin watched him with an unreadable expression, "And if you could not tell them you heard it directly for me then it would probably be better for my health, they'll kill me if they find out I'm a traitor. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good. Now will you _please_ tell me where Calderon is?" Carver pleaded, catching Leebin's eye in the hope he'd see he was genuine, "If you do that than I can get to him first and it won't matter if you tell the Shadows, in fact I encourage it so they'll stop torturing you but they won't kill you until it's confirmed so it's a window of opportunity to save you."

"I don't want Calderon or the Aurors to be killed," Leebin muttered as Carver helped him to drink the water again.

"I won't harm them, I don't want them killed either," Carver said truthfully, "If I know where he is then it's a matter of sneaking in and getting him out that way. Please, Leebin, this way everyone wins but the Shadows. Don't you want this to stop?"

"Yes," Leebin whimpered as he stopped drinking for a moment, looking very much like he was wrestling with the decision before taking a deep breathe, "Alright, my uncle owns a muggle farmhouse that's been in the family unused for a long time, that's where they put Calderon. It's in-"

"What are you doing?!" James' voice barked abruptly, Leebin flinched in fear as a look of terror crossed his face while Carver turned to see James standing disapprovingly at the top of the stairs, "I said not long or to torture him if you do. He's not being tortured, you're giving him water! And I bet it's not the scalding kind! Cruci-"

"NO!" Carver yelled more forcefully then he'd intended as he jumped up and grabbed James' wrist before he could complete the spell to torture Leebin, James had an expression of utter surprise, "If you're going to hurt him then you're not going to do it in my presence."

"Why?"

"Why?! Jay, _listen_ to yourself!" Carver protested and jabbed his finger at Leebin, who'd crumpled back to the ground and attempted to curl his broken body back into the fetal position with limited success, "And _look_ at him!"

"I do, he's still handsome," James insisted with a lecherous glace at Leebin and Carver seriously considered smacking him across the face for the off chance it would knock some sense into him.

"He's not handsome, he's broken, he barely even _looks_ human now. And you did _that_, you did that to an innocent person, a _good_ person, someone we know, someone who tried to _help_ us."

"He left-"

"He was fired for something that had nothing to do with him!" Carver cut James off, "And even if he did, he wouldn't deserve to be treated like this. No one does. Are you really so far gone you think its right? Its justified? Not even that but to _enjoy_ it?! To enjoy inflicting that much pain on another human being. What is _wrong_ with you?! I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

"What is wrong with _me_? What is wrong with _you_?!" James shot back, looking very much offended, "You used to enjoy this stuff, and it's just a more extreme version of pranking people."

"No its not, dammit!" Carver snapped, "And we didn't prank, we bullied. We were bullies, what we did was _wrong_. I was having a lousy life and I was angry, so angry I took it out on other people. And it was wrong and I feel _horrible, _I hate who I was and what I did. I can't change what I did but I can change how I act now and I'm not being involved in torturing an innocent man, other people aren't slabs of meat to abuse at your will. They have thoughts and feelings and minds of their own, how can you not feel sympathy or empathy?"

"Because Leebin _deserves_ it, there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing. He's the enemy, he's less then human," James reiterated, glaring at him darkly, "And I think you should go now."

"Gladly," Carver growled as he stalked off, hating he could do nothing as Leebin's screams echoed after him.

He'd save him soon though, plus though Leebin may not have given him the exact location but an uncle's farm he could work with quite easily. Tracking down the uncle and getting the information should only take a day or so, with any luck they could find Calderon by tomorrow and he'd find a way tell the Aurors there where Leebin was since he knew they'd be non-Shadow ones.

* * *

Scorpius woke up the next day as usual and headed downstairs, however he was surprised to see the very welcome sight of Myriam Leebin. The dark-haired dainty woman was looking rather tied and had a jagged scar going from her right palm up into her wrist, seeming to continue beyond the sleeve. Otherwise she seemed unhurt though, a bit more frail then before maybe but he supposed when she was recovering it was expected. Maurene with her, the little girl perched close to her as she quietly dipped pieces of toast into egg to eat. The toddlers and his parents were also there, his father alone looking unhappy while Lysel was smiling from ear to ear in absolute delight as he excitedly rambled about his time with the Malfoys.

"Good morning," Scorpius greeted them with a smile as he sat down, "Glad to see you two back on your feet."

"Thank you," Myriam offered as she returned his smile, Scorpius was genuinely glad they were okay as well as because he could finally ask about the farmhouse. When they were alone anyway.

"Uncle Hogan says you're welcome," Maurene pointed out and Myriam seemed to try not to scowl, only half-succeeding.

"Well don't listen too much to him, sweetie. He's a bitter man."

"I know, Mummy, you said before," Maurene nodded while Scorpius started putting food onto his own plate as he tried to figure out how he could get Myriam alone since she'd undoubtedly want to spend time with her children.

"When's Daddy be home?" Lysel asked innocently and Myriam froze along with those collectively older than ten, "Then us all is backed."

"Uncle Hogan says Daddy's probably dead by now or soon will be."

"What dead?" Sol questioned curiously.

"Who wants to see a Quidditch game?" his father blurted out immediately as an obvious attempt to change the subject, it actually worked on the little ones though. Scorpius didn't think they really understood the concept yet slightly to at all. He thought his father regretted his decision now though as he'd roped himself to a Quidditch game for the three kids.

Scorpius actually went with them instead of staying home, he didn't see the point in going over to Varanian unless he got the address which he needed to get from Myriam who was going. It proved to be fruitless however, he didn't get a chance to talk to her the entire excruciatingly long game between the Wimbourne Wasps and the Chudley Cannons much to the children's excitement.

When they returned home he still found himself struggling to get Myriam alone, her children hung off her like glue and his mother was often talking to her. At least hanging around the women put distance between he and his father, who kept making attempts to speak to him. He didn't get his chance until the kids were put to bed as Myriam was staying for a few days, she seemed mostly okay but moved somewhat slowly and seemed to struggle a bit when she had to bend or straighten like when sitting down or standing after she'd been sitting. When the kids were sleeping, he only had to worry about his mother since his father was off… somewhere and thankfully she needed to use the bathroom.

"Finally," Scorpius couldn't help but utter in relief, Myriam gave him a knowing look.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Myriam asked of him, much to his surprise.

"I- Wait you know?"

"I figure there's a reason you've been hanging around me almost as much as my children," Myriam shrugged it off and Scorpius took a breath, opting to go for the truth after she'd helped the previous year in Hogsmeade.

"Well, you know how your husband was taken?" Scorpius began and Myriam tensed, her expression darkening but she nodded, "He knows where Calderon is being kept, they took him to find out."

"Is he okay?" Myriam asked worriedly and Molly's words on him having his skin peeled off came to mind, maybe not the _whole_ truth. He could spare her the gory details.

"I don't know, I know why he was taken and that he's still alive and likely being kept abroad but that's pretty much it. I think Calderon's being held in his uncle's farmhouse, maybe it volunteered it or something."

"That sounds like something Flan would do," Myriam admitted sadly.

"Right so I erm… I'd really rather like the location so Gray can check it out, save him being prisoner because he's not the Shadow Master and stop the Shadows getting him because I erm… well, Leeb- Flan would probably err… tell them at some point," Scorpius stammered out awkwardly and Myriam looked at him for a long moment, seemingly struggling with what she wanted to say.

"Do… Do you think Gray could save…?"

"I-I- I don't- I mean they're trying but they're also trying to find Calderon and Antonius Ashain, he's a ten year old child but erm… it's not easy," Scorpius offered uselessly, not sure what to say. He did _want_ Leebin saved, there was just other things happening as well.

"Alright, I'll tell you it's in- I'll tell you tomorrow," Myriam started to say but changed her mind mid-sentence as his mother walked back in, Scorpius sighed again. Tomorrow it would have to be.

* * *

**Part 2: **A Clan Gathering

* * *

"Aw he's adorable," Abby was saying as she cooed over the baby, Dom's son little Crescentius Arthur Ashain was nestled comfortably in his great-grandmother's arms as far as Albus could tell.

The Weasley family and friends were having a Easter – even though Easter Tuesday wasn't really a thing – plus baby meeting gathering at the Burrow, hence why Albus was watching his oldest friend coo over his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor's new half-brother which was also Albus' cousin. Somehow he thought the professor would be about as pleased as Uncle Bill was, Albus still would have loved to point it out and ask for special treatment if only Antonius wasn't still missing and all. Scorpius wasn't the only one to notice their teacher looked a wreck, Albus could notice things too. Although right now he found he kept noticing Abby more than anything else.

Damn Vern and his crazy theories that he liked Abby just because he'd known her forever and she was really great, she was kind and funny and clever enough because not everyone needed to be a freaking genius and Pentakel was all wrong for her. He could see that, not because he was jealous or overprotective, because he actually _knew _her and could see she needed someone better. It was nuts to think he liked her, sure he _supposed_ she was pretty in a sister way. Sure she had skin so perfect it looked like she was glowing and pearly white teeth, they were a little crooked and he didn't know why Uncle Neville had never bothered to fix them but somehow he was glad because… because it was just part of who she was. And she was fine how she was, she didn't need to change and she didn't need Pentakel.

"Damn straight he's adorable, my nephew is totally the cutest baby," Louis stated playfully as he tossed back his blond hair – drawing Albus back to the conversation and making him wish he had hair like that, Louis never had trouble getting girlfriends after all - and threw Freddie a smirk, "In the whole family. Charla and Vale are toddlers before you try to disagree."

"He's only the cutest because he's the only baby in the family currently, just wait until _my_ second child arrives next month," Freddie countered and rubbed his long-term girlfriend Caitlin's heavily pregnant stomach, "Then there'll be a new King or Queen of cuteness in town."

"No way."

"Yes way, new trumps old."

"But you forget, my little nephew is part-Veela," Louis insisted confidently, "So he's automatically more adorable then all regular human babies like yours."

"Part-Veela? Please," Freddie scoffed, "He's only like a millionth part-Veela, so barely it that it doesn't even affect him."

"I disagree."

"Wanna bet on it?"

"Absolutely!"

"Are you two seriously betting over which_ baby_ will be _cuter_?" Caitlin wondered of them in disbelief, Albus was forced to agree with the ludicrously of how dumb that sounded.

"Yeah," the two cousins said in unison, Caitlin shook her head at them and moved Freddie's hand away.

"I'm dating a lunatic. Well you two do that, I have to go pee," Caitlin sighed as she moved Freddie's hand off her as she made to stand while her boyfriend looked slightly guilty, turning back to them briefly though, "Oh and for the record, in a cuteness contest my kids are _always _going to smash any others out of the park Veela or not so there you go."

"Love you, sweetheart," Freddie called after his girlfriend as she went off to the bathroom before turning back to Louis with a smirk, "And that's why I love her."

"Because she indulges your insanity?" Louis queried of his cousin with a raised eyebrow, Freddie's smile only widened.

"Exactly! There's lots of smart, beautiful women out there with a good sense of humor but the trick is to find the one who can put up with you despite knowing your faults and who you love her too much to care about hers, now _that_ girl is the One and only. And for me, that is Caitlin and we're going to spend the rest of our hopefully not too short lives together."

"Well that does tend to happen when you knock them up," Louis smirked while Albus pondered those words and Freddie tried to whack his arm but Louis ducked, laughing.

"Shut up! That was_ one_ time!"

"Two times!"

"The second time was on purpose!" Freddie insisted, apparently giving up and just folding his arms, "And being parents is awesome, we're so great how could our kids not be? Which is why I have complete confidence in number two beating Cres on the cuteness scale."

"Well your daughter's trying to eat a lamp," Louis pointed out and gestured to behind Freddie.

"My daughter is not trying to eat a lamp," Freddie scoffed but turned to check anyway, seeing the two year old was indeed trying to eat a lamp and he immediately bolted for her, "Sweetheart, don't eat that!"

Albus and Louis both laughed in amusement before Louis shook his head and went back over to their grandmother, wanting to hold the baby again. Leaving Albus with his confused thoughts about Abby once more, he cared a lot about her certainly but_ did_ he like her in a romantic way? It was certainly different to how he felt about Grozda and he was sure Grozda her been true love so that meant he _couldn't_ like Abby that way… Not unless Grozda _hadn't_ been true love in which case he supposed Abby could be but in that case how was he even supposed to tell if his ability to contemplate romantic relationships clearly sucked?

"You know if you keep staring at Abby you're going to weird her out," Vern commented as he came to stand by him, Albus realized his eyes had subconsciously drifted from the baby back to Abby talking to Rose and angrily threw a glare to Vern instead.

"I wasn't looking. And it's your fault anyway," Albus complained at him, "If you hadn't said what you had before then I wouldn't even be thinking about this."

"If I was wrong then why are you still thinking about it months later?"

"Because you suck."

"You're just jealous," Vern stated with an amused smile.

"In your dreams, Dursley," Albus scoffed and quickly averted his eyes.

His father was one of the most famous heroes of magical times, he'd saved the freaking world from Voldemort and then the son noted for looking so much like his dad was… Albus, who couldn't even get an Outstanding on his best subject and even training quadruple hard as everyone else still only got him to being passably mediocre at Quidditch whereas everyone else in his family just seemed to have this inherent natural talent that was lost to him. Even Vern, his muggleborn cousin managed to surpass him, he even managed to make Prefect which was a feat no Potter had accomplished so far and he had a girlfriend _and_ he'd proven himself brave enough in the past to stand up to the Shadows even at the risk of death. Of course he was jealous, Vern was more like his dad then he'd ever be. Not that he was going to admit that.

"What's up?" Lily queried as she wandered over to them munching on some cake she seemed to have picked up from somewhere. Where was the cake? He wanted cake.

"What's up with you?" Albus questioned, "And more importantly, where did you get the cake?"

"Well Lys was going on and on about girls he has a crush on so I went to try talk to Lucy but she's being a weirdo so… now I'm here."

Albus glanced around, quickly finding his squib cousin slinking around like a dark shadow in the room without a hint of cheer on her face. He felt bad for her, she'd lost her mum, found out she was a squib, lost her dad, an assortment of other family members most recently their grandfather, it was no wonder she seemed withdrawn. Most of the family was actually there to welcome the new Weasley, Albus really admired that about his family, which despite all the deaths they still held strong together despite whatever splintering there was.

His widowed grandmother was there of course as it was her home, his mother, Uncle George and Aunt Hermione were there without their spouses as well. His father was working, his Uncle Ron… was apparently a Shadow along with his own brother James – Albus still wasn't sure he bought either of them had gone dark side - and Aunt Angelina just wasn't around much since divorcing his uncle. Dom was there of course with the newborn Crescentius, her husband was not though as he was getting some rest since he was looking a little 'gray' from tiredness from the baby which Albus had taken as code for something Gray related. He, Lily and Vern where there of course, Rose and Hugo, Roxy and Freddie along with his heavily pregnant girlfriend Caitlin and their two year old daughter, Charla.

Lucy was there, Molly was still avoiding the family to avoid questions since she was living and working with Varanian. The widowed Cel was also there with his odd son, Vale who was sitting quietly clutching a toy car. The married couple Victoire and Teddy both had to work unfortunately, his grandmother Andromeda was there though as was Louis with his own girlfriend and fellow Auror Eudoxia "Doxy" Holt. Uncle Neville and Aunt Hannah were there as well with their youngest children Abby and August, Heather having not been bothered to return from her exotic job apparently – foolish in Albus' opinion, didn't she notice how fast the countries were dropping? – as well was Aunt Luna and Uncle Rolf with their twin sons Lorcan and Lysander. Everyone else in the family not there was dead except for the grandfather of the new baby, Uncle Bill hadn't shown up yet.

"Poor girl," Vern offered sadly as his emerald eyes drifted to Lucy, "I remember when I first met her, she was all excited to think she was going to Hogwarts while I dreaded it."

"Still dread it?" Albus wondered curiously.

"I'm dreading OWLs, the rest I'm okay with it. Looking forward to Quidditch and the next Hogsmeade trip, Olivia and I are doing something special."

"You looking forward to OWLs next year, Lils?"

"Nah, not when I have such clever friends to help me through it," Lily shrugged it off as she started licking the icing off the cake, "Thing I'd be dreading is the advice sessions, like I'm supposed to know what to do when I grow up. I haven't even had a favorite subject since Flying stopped after First Year."

"What do you want to do by the way, Vern?"

"Orous and I want to do what Leebin does," Vern offered hesitantly, "Be a counsellor or wizard psychologist or a Psych Healer, whatever it's officially called in the magical world."

"Why the hell would you want to do that?" Albus scoffed, angrily thinking of the bitch counsellor who'd helped drive his friend to suicide or what douche Rutherford had been. He missed Latimer, he wrote to him quite frequently and sent him sweets to try make sure he knew he still mattered – he was afraid of him killing himself still - but it wasn't the same as seeing him around, "It's the stupidest profession, it's not even a real profession and it did more harm than good."

"When done _right _it can be useful," Vern insisted determinedly, "Look I'm a prefect and I take my job seriously, part of that is looking out for the First Years. Do you know many of them are afraid because of the war? Do you know how many have lost people in Shadow attacks? Do you know many have actually been the victim of Shadow attacks? Then there's normal school problems, do you even know how many of them feel stressed because of the upcoming exams? Do you know how many are being bullied?"

"Geez, Vern, you make your house sound like it's a wreck."

"Obviously not everyone has problems like that – and I'm sure it's the same for other houses - but for those that _do_, it might help them to have someone who they could talk to and get support from since Hogwarts doesn't do it and the wizarding world is kind of blind to these things. And that's just in Hogwarts, adults can have problems as well," Vern continued sounding rather passionate while Albus remained unconvinced, "The counsellors before who were more focused on helping then their ulterior motives actually did help like Leebin, when done right it _can_ help people. That's what I want to do, help people with their problems."

"Pretty much any job is more helpful to people than that, it's a dumb waste of time."

"You're just biased," Vern scoffed as he made to move away, "I'm going to get some cake."

"I want cake. Where _is_ the cake?" Albus demanded of his sister as she finished off hers and Vern gave no indication of hearing him.

"I'm not telling you, you just called my boyfriend's dreams a dumb waste of time since he wants the same as Vern and all," Lily insisted as she started licking the crumbs off her fingers, Albus scowled at her, "Why aren't you hanging out with Abby and Rose anyway?"

"If I tell you will you tell me where the cake is?"

"Maybe."

"Abby and I are kind of… talking less because of her dumb boyfriend, Rose is with her so… I'm not," Albus offered, it was _basically_ the truth since she was quite annoyed about his comments before about long distance to try make Pentakel show his dark ready-to-abandon-her side but that had failed. He also felt awkward around her when trying to figure out if he liked her but he decided to leave that part out.

"Seriously, Al? _Geez_," Lily complained, rolling her eyes behind her glasses, "You barely talk to _me _anymore because you're annoyed _I_ have a boyfriend and now you're barely talking to _Abby _anymore because _she_ has a boyfriend? People date, get over it."

"It's not the same thing," Albus protested as Lily started to walk away, with a pang he realized that he was right. It _wasn't_ the same thing. The question was, was it because he liked Orous whereas Pentakel was a stupid jerk face or because he was protective over his little sister whereas he liked Abby romantically himself? He also realized something else, "Hey! You didn't tell me where the cake was!"

"You could try looking, you know?" Louis pointed out, pausing in passing by with his baby nephew who was sleepily sucking on a rainbow-colored pacifier, "Food doesn't just magically float over to you even in the magical world."

"I would never have guessed," Lucy stated and they both jumped, noticing she'd managed to sneak up on them. Gone was the excitable little girl she'd been, her body had filled out with puberty and she'd grown to be tall which both made her look older. She had the typical Weasley red hair and freckles, her eyes were a muddy brown like her mother's had been.

"I-"

"Louis, we have to go now. We have to change shifts soon, we don't want to be late and let down Harry Potter," Doxy cut him off as she came over, she was quite pretty while freckles with bouncy brown hair and pale brown eyes to match.

"Okay, okay I'm going. Let me finish handing off Cres and saying bye to my sister," Louis insisted and continued walking over to Dom with Doxy, the latter looking relieved as if failing his father was the worst thing in the world. You got used to it.

"Do you ever wonder if it hurts a baby more to feel pain then an adult?" Lucy asked of him, taking Albus by surprise as she watched the newborn with shadows dancing darkly in her eyes, "Their souls are so fresh and pure, their little minds have never experienced anything. Do you think it would hurt more for those bright, untouched souls to be shredded and torn?"

"I don't know, that's a really horrible thought," Albus said, feeling disconcerted by the way she watched Crescentius being handed back to his mother.

"Maybe," Lucy admitted, a flicker of sadness crossing her face before it blanked again as she looked to him, "Do you think Cres would deserve it though? Why should he get to have a nice bright ball of magic in his baby soul while I didn't?"

"Of course he doesn't deserve it, he's a baby. I'm sorry you're a squib but that doesn't mean magic people should have their souls destroyed, okay?!" Albus snapped at her, Lucy looked at him for a moment before laughing.

"I'm just kidding, Al, lighten up. It's called dark humor."

"You lighten up," Albus muttered as Lucy walked off to go be creepy someone else, maybe Vern should try counseling _her_.

"Bill," one of the adults gasped and Albus spun in shock once more to see Uncle Bill had arrived, his scars making his expression even more menacing as his blue eyes narrowed darkly on his grandson as if he was something vile and abhorrent. He then turned on his heel to leave.

"Wait, Dad!" Dom cried and rushed after him desperately, he turned back to her with his expression still contorted with anger as it rested on the baby she held in her arms, "Dad, please, just-just stay, please. Meet you grandson, his name is Cres-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT ITS NAME IS!" Uncle Bill roared and anyone who hadn't noticed his arrival fell silent, he was trembling from rage but seemed to be trying to calm himself. Dom recoiled slightly and the baby stirred from the noise, "It's_ his_ child, it's all _his_, it looks just like _him_. That monster. That man I hate more than anyone on this Earth, the one who's destroying your life and you don't even realize it, he forced you to bear his child."

"He's _my_ child too and don't you dare talk that way about my baby!" Dom shot back as her expression twisted to match his, angry tears flying from her eyes while Crescentius started whining unhappily because of the disruption, "He's my son, can't you suck up your foolish beliefs for five seconds and be a normal grandparent?! You're the only one he's got!"

"Never! I will never acknowledge that monster's child, I will never care about that thing!" Uncle Bill yelled, causing Crescentius to start crying as he started to storm off.

"You're being ridiculous, Dad!" Louis called after him, causing the elder man to pause once more while, "Whatever issues you have with Aurelius, that's not on Cres. He's a baby, he didn't do anything wrong and he doesn't deserve this hate."

"How can you take his side?! Your mother would be rolling in her grave if she knew!"

"Yes she would be but it would be for _your _actions that she's rolling for!" Louis shouted looking upset himself, very much making Uncle Bill look taken aback, "Mum would never turn her back on her family, on her innocent infant only grandson! She'd give Aurelius a chance because she was a fair person who didn't care about looks or age and as soon as she saw that baby she'd have scooped him out of Dom's arm to cradle him excitedly, smothered him with kisses and proclaimed 'isn't he ze cutest?' because that's who she was. You're lying to yourself if you believe any differently."

"Don't you dare speak about your mother like that!" Uncle Bill snapped, blinking back tears, "I'm disappointed in you, Louis. I'm ashamed to call the both of you my children and I'll _never_ call that thing my grandson."

On that note, Uncle Bill stalked out and disapparated with a loud crack that only made the baby cry harder while Dom tried to sooth him. Louis wiped his eyes and put his arm around his sister comfortingly, his girlfriend walked over to him and took his hand gently with a sympathetic expression.

"I know, I know I'm going," Louis assured her even though she hadn't said anything not did she look like she'd been about to, he kissed his little nephew on the forehead, "Bye little buddy, I'll talk to you after my shift, okay?"

"Okay, thank you," Dom nodded and gave him a weak smile as Louis also left with Doxy after a brief farewell to everyone else. The lingering silence remained though, Uncle Bill certainly knew how to ruin the mood. Albus found his eyes drifting back to Abby though and mentally kicked himself.

* * *

James was furious, he was hurt Carver could be so mean to him which made him furious. He was dealing with his anger naturally by taking it out on Leebin, he hoped Carver would be pleased with himself over that. How could his best friend turn on him like that? There was nothing wrong with James, it was obviously Carver. Leebin did deserve it and he was doing a necessary service for the Shadows, wasn't it just a bonus if he enjoyed every second? It wasn't his fault if it was just natural to feel good when he heard Leebin screaming or begging for mercy, to feel powerful, to feel superior, to feel strong, to feel better than everyone else. He thought anyone who didn't feel that way when torturing was a liar or incapable of emotion, it was just a normal thing not exclusive to him.

He paused to catch his breath for a minute, he'd been using a spell to whip Leebin. He was better than Leebin in every possible way and Carver was wrong, he wasn't a person really. He was _nothing_, James owned him which gave him the right to do whatever he bloody well pleased. He fingered Leebin's wedding ring that he now wore, he considered it a trophy, a symbol of everything he'd taken from Leebin. Leebin was lying on his front crying like the pathetic albeit attractive sack of flesh he was, sometimes they hung him up to whip him but James preferred Leebin to be beneath him. He kicked Leebin the face, hearing a crack to indicate the nose breaking again before stomping down on the side of his head. He pressed his foot down hard, wanting to his boot print engraved on the traitor's handsome face and decided to keep his foot there while continuing the whipping. Leebin screaming as every violent lash tore into his already raw back.

"Stop, please!" Leebin sobbed and James smiled to himself, he always felt aroused when Leebin begged him to stop. He didn't stop, of course, "I'll ell you! I'll ell you da locaion jus stob! Please, please stob."

James did actually stop them, so surprised he wasn't sure he'd imagined it. He moved his foot off Leebin's face and crouched, Leebin flinched fearfully. He still wasn't really sure whether Leebin was capable of seeing anymore, he gestured for Siberius the Healer to come over and heal Leebin's nose so he could understand him more clearly.

"What did you say?" James demanded of him as he shooed Siberius back to his corner when he was done, oblivious to the man's hate-filled glares by now.

"I'll tell you what you want to know," Leebin croaked with a face full of shame as tears leaking from his eyes, "I'll tell you, just stop hurting me. Please stop hurting me, I can't- I can't take it anymore."

"Huh, good to know," James said, feeling incredibly triumphant to have broken him as he stood and slashed his wand again. He smiled as it elicited another scream from Leebin.

"What are you doing?! He said he'd tell you!" Siberius yelled at him angrily as James mercilessly continued his assault.

"I heard," James insisted with a disinterested shrug as his focus was on Leebin, "I'm just not done with my torture session yet, he can tell me when I'm done."

"You're one cruel son of a bitch, you know that?"

* * *

**Part 3: **The Farmhouse

* * *

Scorpius was excited to awaken the next morning and true to her word, Myriam gave him the address where his cousin was likely being held. The second he could get away from his family, he did go to the hideout to tell Varanian. Helpfully, the man in question he wanted was standing outside scowling at a circle of scorched earth around him.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius questioned in momentary distraction.

"I'm trying to invent a spell to weaponize Patronuses more to use against One and the Specters to kill them not simply repel," Varanian explained.

"Cool. What's the incantation?"

"There's a reason I said _trying_ not _succeeding,_" Varanian insisted somewhat testily, apparently not keen on talking about his failure before seeming to notice him properly, "Did you get the address?"

"Yep!" Scorpius confirmed, his excitement resurging as he pulled the paper from his pocket to show to Varanian who quickly read it, "So what now? Do we go in? Do we storm the place? Do we sneak in? Can I help?"

"We don't do anything until I scout it out so I know what we're dealing with, if it's even the right place. You're welcome to wait around, I'll be back and then think up a plan of action."

"Great," Scorpius agreed as he headed off and disapparated, Scorpius sighed heavily. Why was it easy for everyone else in the world to apparate except for him?

He headed inside to wait, happy to find Molly and Latimer sitting at the kitchen table talking. It made him realize how long it had been since he'd seen his friend, Tobias Latimer was in Molly's year so had graduated and also started working for Gray full time. He was looking well or as well as Latimer tended to look, a bad strain of Dragon Pox as a child had left his flesh pockmarked and a fight with a werewolf had left his face slashed horizontally by the claws, it was really quite a miracle it had missed his reddish-brown eyes. His dark hair had grown longer than it had been last year but not as long as when Scorpius had first known him, Latimer smiled in greeting.

"Hey Scor, long time no see," Latimer offered as Scorpius sat with them, giving Molly a peck on the cheek in greeting. She was looking rather tired, he rubbed her shoulder gently.

"How are you doing? I haven't seen you," Scorpius asked of him with genuine interest.

"Alright, learning Gray stuff mostly. I have my own place rather than living here like Varanian, Annie, Molly, Roman, Wyatt and my dad so I'm not around as much. How are you?"

"Been better. Might've just found a lead on Calderon though," Scorpius said and noticed Molly looking as if she was about to drift off, "You okay, Mol?"

"Did you say Mal or Mol?" Molly wondered in surprise.

"Mol. Like short for Molly."

"Oh right. I'm just tired, sorry. What's your lead?" Molly shrugged it off and Scorpius started quickly filling them in on what he had found out about Leebin's farm until Molly gasped abruptly, her eyes snapping shut but twitching and she grabbed onto the table for support as her breathing started accelerating.

"Molly?" Scorpius and Latimer both questioned worriedly, she slapped the table as if to tell them she heard him.

"You're right and you're wrong but it doesn't really matter, I see death and destruction, chaos reigning under a pitch black sky. You're there with Varanian, he laments they were too late- Martha, you wish you'd taken Martha with you on the last trip to Hogsmeade- she's the only one who might be able to help," Molly told them and her body started to shake, her eyelids twitching more violently, "Vengeance should not be wrought because the death it will sow is not what was sought, blood will spill blood but Death cannot claim all of his kills, no one will be fine when souls intertwine."

"What?" Latimer started to wonder but Molly fell back off her chair, they both scrambled for her but Scorpius was faster.

"Molly? Are you okay?" Scorpius asked worriedly, she stirred and sat up sleepily before starting to fall back but he caught her, "Molly?"

"What happened?" Molly wondered as leaned against him weakly as her eyes fluttered shut again, "Oh, how I hate being a Seer. I'll be okay, I just need to… to rest a bit."

They helped Molly up and got her up to her room, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Scorpius stayed by her side worriedly but Latimer tugged at his arm, leading him out and back downstairs.

"She'll rest better if you're not hovering there, we can tell Annie and make sure she's okay," Latimer explained and came to a halt, Scorpius was surprised to see Varanian had returned already and was talking to Wyatt, "Was it the right place?"

"I believe so, it's riddled with protective enchantments," Varanian told them readily, "I had Aurelius fly over as an eagle and he saw Aurors guarding the farmhouse, the Aurors we know are guarding Calderon."

"So what's the plan? Can I do anything?" Scorpius questioned desperately.

"Actually, yes. You're still an animagus, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you can come, because animagi become an animal it's hard to detect and can get to the farmhouse without triggering the enchantments," Varanian explained, "Since we don't really get into a fight with these Aurors we know to be non-Shadows, we want to try to sneak in to get Calderon then sneak out."

"Guess I can't come then?" Latimer wondered.

"No, maybe next time."

"Make sure Molly's okay," Scorpius offered, still concerned for her.

"What happened to Molly?" Wyatt inquired with a scowl of worry.

"Some Seer episode."

"She say anything interesting?"

"I don't know, maybe," Scorpius shrugged it off, he'd been too worried about her to think much of what she'd actually said, "She said-"

"We can worry about it later, I want to get this done while Hal's still on his shift," Varanian cut him off, "Come on."

* * *

Carver had passed Leebin's along to his uncle, he didn't know how – nor did he want to know – how Jack/One had gotten the information but he had managed to find out what muggle building still belonged to the Leebin. There was only one, a farmhouse and he'd gotten the address. Leebin had been telling the truth it seemed, the place had a myriad of protective enchantments around it and flying over as a moth had confirmed the presence of six Aurors guarding it. All that was left was to decide on a plan of action before the Shadows showed up, Carver had no idea when that would be but it could be anywhere between now and never.

"There are only six of them," Jack/One commented thoughtfully, "_I can just shift in and kill them all."_

"Shift?" Pyrrhus queried, his uncle seemed quite dejected since forcibly amputating Maurice Rivers' hand.

"_What? My ability to teleport deserves a better name then… oh yeah_, nothing_. Because it doesn't have one_."

"I don't like it," Carver spoke up, remembering what he'd said to Leebin, "They're good people, they don't deserve to die just for doing their job."

"_Since was life about giving people what they deserve_?" Jack/One scoffed, looking rather amused at the thought.

"I agree with Carver," Pyrrhus spoke up tearing his tired violently violet eyes away from the distant farmhouse shape and back behind the incline they were using for cover, "Your… _shifting_ may be able to get past the anti-apparation wards but once you show up, it'll still be detected. They'll know he areas been compromised and when that happens, there's nothing to stop them sending in a flood of Aurors and getting Calderon out before we can get to him. No, it's best we do this quietly."

"Thank you," Carver breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why don't you go back and guard the kids? Make sure Antonius is still unconscious," Pyrrhus said to the man who had once been human, Jack/One stared at him disapprovingly for a long moment and Carver was sure he'd object but he finally vanished into the shadows. Pyrrhus sighed, "I hate that guy."

"Then why keep using him?"

"Because we need him to add the extra magic to Antonius' soul, duh."

"What I mean is what- I mean why do we have to do that?" Carver babbled out nervously, Leebin's words had soaked into his mind and Pyrrhus looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. He opened his mouth but Carver continued first, "I mean know _why_ but… Well I have doubts about the plan and I think you do too. Antonius is just a kid and if we go through with it, we're dooming him to an agonizing death and the loss of his very soul."

"What's one life for-"

"A life is a life, Pyrrhus," Carver insisted, "How would you feel if it was Oathan being killed for the sake of the world?"

"Oathan is the world to me, if he dies then there's no point in saving it."

"Exactly, Antonius has people who love him too and you can't say Atticus is just pretending to be nice and secretly hates his son because you've spent enough time with the boy to know Atticus has never been cruel or abusive to him," Carver pushed and Pyrrhus averted his eyes, "Antonius is innocent, he deserves to be protected. Don't you feel like innocent children deserve to be protected?"

"Yes," Pyrrhus snapped firmly.

"If you think about it logically one for the world sounds rational but in my heart I know it's wrong and I think you know it too," Carver said with a heavy sigh, thinking again of Leebin's words. He was right, "You're not a Soul Eater soldier anymore, it's up to you to choose your own path and draw the lines for your own morals. Do you really want Oathan's future built on the soul of an innocent boy? It's not like there's a way to save Antonius."

"I've been looking."

"Have you found anything?"

"Well no."

"Then my point stands!" Carver insisted and Pyrrhus sighed.

"I don't _want_ to kill Antonius but if we don't then _what_, Carver?" Pyrrhus demanded of him, "Its fine for you but I'm a fugitive, they'll never stop hunting me and trying to take my son away from me. Oathan deserves a better life than this, a life I can't give him while Shadows roam."

"I don't know, I just know its wrong," Carver admitted and Pyrrhus shook his head.

"At any rate, now is not the time to discuss it. I'm going to fly in and find where Calderon is, work on breaking the enchantments and alert me when you do then I can transform back into a human and disapparate with him before they have time to run to him."

"Okay," Carver agreed and Pyrrhus transformed into a moth, flying towards the farmhouse while Carver got to work breaking the enchantments.

* * *

Scorpius left the hideout with Varanian and Wyatt, hurrying to the edge of the protected land before Varanian disapparated with them both. It was so easy, it happened in the blink of an eye. _Why_ did Scorpius keep failing at it?

They reappeared in a place so similar that Scorpius could almost have believed they hadn't moved at all, it was the countryside with rolling green hills all around with patches of trees, hedges and little dirt tracks. It looked maybe more rich with plant life but less memorable and less wooded then Varanian's area, he couldn't see the farmhouse from where they were but they were in a patch of trees. Considering the protective enchantments, they were probably as close as they get safely get. A bird swooped down and transformed back into Aurelius Ashain before Scorpius could properly take it in.

"There's still six on guard duty, Hal says to hurry because Louis and Doxy are coming to change shifts soon," Aurelius blurted out, his expression more anxious than usual, "Can I go now?"

"We haven't even started yet!" Varanian protested and Aurelius sighed.

"I've just been separated from Dom for so long, she just had a baby. She should be resting, is she staying off her meet enough at this gathering? She likes to be active but she needs to be taking it easy and I worry that she's trying to do everything while taking care of the baby and exhausting herself, is she getting enough to eat and drin-"

"You've been separated for like an_ hour_."

"Well an hour is a long time," Aurelius protested, only looking more anxious, "A lot can happen in an hour, I should be with her. And what if her father shows up and upsets her? She shouldn't be stressed out right now and-"

"Aurelius," Varanian cut off the elder man's babbling once more and Aurelius glanced at him.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Okay," Aurelius bobbed his head in agreement as he twiddled his hands nervously, Varanian opened his mouth to speak but Aurelius started babbling again, "And what about my son? I need to be there for Cres, what if he misses me? What if he thinks I've abandoned him? What if he thinks I don't love him anymore? Is he alright? What if he's scared by all the people? What if he's not feeling well? What if-"

"Aurelius!" Varanian barked once more, glaring at him as Aurelius stopped to glance at him again.

"Yes?"

"Shut up!" Varanian snapped at him, "The sooner we do this, the sooner you can go back to your family and obsessively worry but for now focus and be silent."

"They'll be fine," Wyatt added comfortingly to Aurelius who nodded unhappily.

"So the plan is all three of you turn animagus, Aurelius flies over carrying Wyatt and he drops you over the farmhouse. Wyatt glides in and searches the place for Calderon, he alerts Aurelius who alerts Hal who then retrieves Calderon and takes him outside where Scorpius is waiting. Scorpius then flies him back here, Aurelius also carries Wyatt back here so we can apparate him back to the base. While you guys do that, I break these enchantments so they'll think someone broke in to get Calderon and will be less likely to realize animagi were involved. Got it?"

There was a chorus of muttering and nods before the three animagi transformed while Varanian set to work on breaking the enchantments. Aurelius picked up Wyatt in his talons before taking off, Scorpius thought it would be less conspicuous if he stayed on the ground since Aurors of all people were likely to have seen death.

'_Follow me from the ground_,' Aurelius cawed at him and Scorpius found himself capable of understanding.

He nodded his head and started to gallop after the eagle, feeling rather awkward as he hadn't transformed for a while and it took a bit of time to get used to being in a different shape. The farmhouse came into view quickly, it looked very old and grubby with some of the windows missing glass. Scorpius knew from experience it could be nicer inside thanks to magic or even disguised to look like that but somehow he doubted it, he didn't think Hogan was that generous and it was a muggle dwelling or had been.

There was also a stable area attached to it which was what Aurelius made a beeline for, Scorpius followed and almost froze when he noticed an Auror walking around but relaxed upon recognizing Hal. Hal Davies was on their side after all, Varanian had likely already discussed the plan with him as he didn't seem surprised to see a Thestral and very deliberately ignored the Thestral heading into the stable. The Davies were family friends so Scorpius knew the older Hal, who was actually still a white soul it seemed.

"Go into that furthest corner and lie down, it's out of sight from the pathway we do our rounds of the building. Be quiet until you hear from one of us because other Aurors will be walking around and remember not to transform back to a human or you'll trigger the enchantments," Hal whispered and didn't bother waiting to see if obeyed as he hurried on by, presumably needing to keep up appearances lest the other Aurors become suspicious.

Scorpius did as told, attempting to find a comfortable position that was less likely to be seen. He flicked his Thestral eyes around, trying to see anything useful and caught a glimpse of a flying lizard before he drifted out of sight. Then nothing.

There was a painful silence as Scorpius lay there, seconds seeming to drag by as he listened to his heartbeat which sounded slower and more irregular as a Thestral for some reason. He waited and froze when he heard footsteps, what sounded like Louis Weasley's voice grumbling about his father to a voice that might've been his sister Victoire Lupin but they receded out of sight. He supposed Hal had warned him of other Aurors walking around.

'_He's not here_,' a voice cawed and Scorpius practically jumped, spinning his neck as he noticed Aurelius landing on the wall nearby with Wyatt back in his claws.

'_What do you mean he's not here?_' Scorpius questioned in confusion.

'_I searched the whole place but its empty_,' Wyatt insisted and Scorpius felt his heart sink to his hooves, '_Either Leebin already cracked and the Shadows took him already without the Aurors knowing, the Aurors moved him themselves and are just using this as a decoy, he managed to escape or I'm missing something but I don't think I am. The inside shows signs of usage but not recently, I don't think anyone's been inside in months. I don't know what happened but I know Calderon's not here now_.'

'_Dammit.'_

_'I know now let's get out of here, being held in an eagle's talons is not as comfortable as it sounds and it doesn't even sound very comfortable._'

'_Sorry_,' Aurelius cawed apologetically but didn't move as there were more footsteps, forcing them to wait a minute for them to pass, '_Alright, follow me again_.'

Aurelius took off and Scorpius scrambled up on his four spindly legs to follow, racing back the way they'd come after the eagle. They didn't take the most direct route but rather going through as many of the tree thickets as possible, likely for coverage before they reached Varanian just as the sounds of an alarm started echoing from behind them. Varanian lowered the wand he'd been waving in surprise while the three transformed back.

"That was weird," Varanian said half to himself as he scowled, "It was almost as if I wasn't the only one working on them, "Those enchantments broke far faster and easier than I was expecting…"

"You just don't know your own power," Wyatt brushed it off and the metamorphmagi turned his attention to them.

"Where's Calderon?"

"I don't know but he's not there."

"Dammit," Varanian swore and rubbed his eyes, clearly sharing Scorpius' disappointment, "Well we can't worry about what happened to him now, we have to go."

He grabbed Scorpius, disapparating while the other two followed suit.

* * *

Carver jolted in shock as air erupted with the sound of alarm, he looked at his wand then at the alarm. He frowned, he'd hardly call breaking protective enchantments were hardly his strong point and they hadn't exactly been weakly done so why had they broken so easily? He was so distracted by his surprise he didn't notice Pyrrhus until he transformed back into a man beside him with his face twisted in a scowl.

"I thought the plan was-"

"Calderon's not there," Pyrrhus cut him off, looking rather irate.

"Are you sur-"

"Of course I'm sure! No one's been in there in months, they probably moved him the second Leebin was captured and kept this place as a decoy. That bloody Minister isn't as stupid as they give him credit for."

"Crap," Carver sighed heavily, Leebin's months of torture had all been in vain and Calderon was still locked away for no reason.

"Not the word I'd use," Pyrrhus pointed out testily, "Anyway we should get in touch soon but for now I should get back and you should get back to the Shadows before they worry, the Aurors will be here any second searching."

"Okay, I'll see you," Carver nodded and Pyrrhus turned on his heel, disapparating with a loud crack.

Carver readied to do the same before freezing as figures in dark robes emblazoned with the skeletal snake symbol that was the Shadow Mark, the Shadows had arrived. On the plus side, the Aurors would chalk the disturbance up to them but on the other side… it was bad. It would turn into a bloodbath and all for a man who wasn't even there, guilt twisted at his heart. And what if Leebin had caved because he'd told him too? He'd said the Aurors would not be hurt. Unless… Carver could just tell them he wasn't there, try get them to retreat.

"Hey!" Carver yelled and desperately as he rushed towards the Shadows but they didn't hear him over the sound of the alarms and then it was too late.

The six Aurors had taken up position guarding the front door while reinforcements had already arrived from behind the Shadows to take the from behind, the still arriving Shadows were still appearing so it didn't have as much impact as it should've – it still had enough for cloaked bodies to be scattered across the ground - and both were on more even footing. Now he just needed to find out which of the generically masked figures was leading the charge and get them to retreat, he observed for a second through the flash of spellfire shooting through the air and noticed one of the masked figures gesturing to a majority and yelling something Carver was too far away to hear.

It seemed to be orders for them to deal with the reinforcements while the rest of them advanced on the farmhouse still, it must have had its own set of protective enchantments on it as the spells were bouncing off it and leaving the battered building unharmed. He dove towards them, weaving his way through crossfire he was trapped in, ducking and dodging while throwing up shields left and right. He wasn't going to fight, he wouldn't be forgiven a second time for attacking the Shadows like he had for the attack on Hogwarts and he refused to harm the Aurors, he'd told Leebin and besides they were just good people trying to do the right thing just like he was. Except the ones who were Shadows.

"Hey!" Carver cried once more as he reached the one he thought was leading, "You need to call a retreat!"

"Carver?! What are _you_ doing here?!" a painfully familiar voice gasped in shock and Carver tore off the mask in surprise to see James.

* * *

**Part 4: **Those Without Hope

* * *

"What am _I_ doing here?! Why are you _leading_ them?!" Carver shot out in shock.

"What? Why I shouldn't I be leading them? I've had some training and Stephan has faith that my leadership abilities will rival that of my father's," James told him rather proudly and Carver resisted rolling his eyes very hard, "Besides it was me who broke Leebin and got the location, why shouldn't I find Calderon too?"

"Because he's _not_ here," Carver stated firmly while they both ducked a spell quickly, James frowned and he realized he needed to invent some excuse for his being there. With a sad pang he realizing just how much he didn't trust his best friend anymore, "Leebin told me the location yesterday because you know being nice to people can pay off but I was so mad at you that I didn't say, I checked it out myself and the building's empty. Hasn't been used in months, they probably moved Calderon as soon as Leebin was taken. They just left this place guarded as a decoy and a trap to kill some Shadows."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! Why would I lie? Don't you trust _me_?!" Carver demanded of him in frustration while James just stared, "People are dying James and three of those Aurors guarding those doors are your _family_, you have to fight through them and all you'll find is an empty building. It's all for nothing, it's all in vain, is that what you want?!"

"Are you sur-"

"I'M SURE!" Carver screamed at him before being distracted as someone else called his name.

He spun, spotting a Shadow over James' shoulder closer to the farmhouse wielding his sister's wand who had paused to look at him. Foolishly as a bulking Auror with a comically small wand send a barrage of stunners at her, Carver jabbed his wand at her to send her to the ground to suck below them as he raced towards Viola. Behind him he was relieved to hear James calling for a retreat, he waved his wand and caused the earth to rise up as a wall to take the pummeling from the spells fired at his sister while she was getting to her feet. He reached her faster and hauled her to her feet as the earth wall exploded, he noticed she was already sporting a myriad of cuts and a nasty burn. She just couldn't keep up with the rest of them, being spoiled through the training had caused her to walk out with none of the superior talents they gained for their lost childhood.

"Carver, why are you-"

"Get out! Get of here right now!" Carver barked at her as he shoved her away, not wanting her to be anywhere the fighting because he knew it would get her killed.

She backed away in surprise but nonetheless vanished with a Specter as were other retreating Soul Eaters, the numbers were thinning now but both Auror and Shadow bodies were sprawled on the ground as crimson tainted the viridian hills. He ducked instinctively, and quite correctly as it dodged another stunner from the bulky Auror, while turning back to the battle. The Auror screamed and crumpled in a heap as a vicious jet of purple struck him, clutching at his body from whatever internal damage the curse did. He had to do a double take when he noticed James was the caster, a hint of a sadistic smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Carver averted his eyes sadly, wondering what had become of his friend. It was a good thing because his eyes had drifted back to the farmhouse, some Shadows must have snuck in the back as they were leaving now and catching the remaining Aurors off-guard. A young Auror who Carver thought had been a Slytherin prefect for a while was struck in the back by some explosive spell, he screamed in pain as he was flung aside. The Aurors quickly divided, Teddy and Victoire turning to take on the intruders while Louis and the remaining woman went to take on the few Shadows still outside.

Carver lurched towards them instinctively to help, slamming up a shield to protect Victoire from a black spell fired at her while she tried to hit them with a stunner. It didn't go unnoticed by Teddy who had to quickly dive out of the way to try avoid a fatal jet of green, he succeeded but lost his standing position. Carver slashed his wand through the air and yanked it, putting extreme focus into tearing the Shadows' wands from their grasp. They gasped in shock as their wands turned on them, a few tried to run but it didn't matter as Carver sent Killing Curses to end them all while Victoire turned back to check on the outer battle that was sounding quiet.

Hopefully, they were still enough in the farmhouse and obscured enough that the credit for those few deaths would go to the Lupins. He heard gasps, catching a glimpse of Victoire almost dropping her wand in surprise as she and Louis laid eyes on their cousin. James was still there and Carver had stupidly unmasked him, _crap_. He stopped to offer Teddy a hand, helping him to get back to his feet. The metamorphmagus gave him a grateful smile that Carver started to return weakly before pain exploded through him, ripping through his back, his insides and out his chest as a scarlet spray filled his own vision.

* * *

James was shocked to see Carver at the farmhouse and rather offended that he seemed to doubt his leadership ability, he didn't have much time to think about it though as he was still in the middle of a battle. Carver tore away from him before they say much more on the subject, rushing over to save one of the weaker Shadows. James reluctantly called for a retreat, he'd had some of them come up on the farmhouse from the other side so if by any chance Carver _was_ wrong then they should be able to get Calderon anyway.

James knew he should leave as well, especially since Carver had pulled off his mask that had since been lost in the chaos of battle but… well he couldn't just leave without his friend. If Carver was sneaking around here by himself then he couldn't be sure he'd obey the retreat and he didn't want Carver to be killed or captured by Aurors even if he _was_ mad at him. Bitterly he recalled his time as a prisoner of the Aurors, he shot a spell at the bulky Auror giving Carver trouble that made acid eat through your internal organs. He was satisfied when the Auror went down and resisted the urge to smile to himself as he fondly recalled using it on Leebin, he hoped he'd still be able to torture him when all this was over.

His team from the farmhouse seemed to be trying to attack the Aurors from behind, the last few guarding the place and took down a boy James was sure had been a scumbag Slytherin. With a jolt of panic, James realized three of them were his family: Teddy, Victoire and Louis. James made to call out to order them not to hurt them but the words caught in his throat, torn between wanting to protect them and his loyalty to the Soul Eaters. Should he even help them? They hadn't helped him in his time of need. Thankfully Carver also must've recognized them as he ran in to protect them, Teddy and Victoire turned to face the farmhouse team while Louis and the female Auror attacked the retreating Shadows.

"Aren't you coming?" one of the Soul Eaters hissed at him, distracting him from the farmhouse.

"Soon as I get Carver," James promised.

He quickly deflected a spell one of the Aurors from behind had cast, cowardly bastard trying to hit someone when their back was turned. The retreating Shadows did mean the backup Aurors would be there soon enough, some were staying seemingly not willing to leave without their leader which made his chest with a bit of pride. Or he supposed they could just be waiting for a good opportunity, not wanting to be caught by a curse while leaving. James violently slashed him with Acuta and sent him to the ground spluttering blood, the Soul Eater silenced him with a Killing Curse.

He heard a gasp and spun back to the farmhouse, Louis and Victoire had seen him. Their jaws dropped and Victoire almost dropped her wand in shock, it seemed his secret was out but they made no move to attack him so he could probably still leave unscathed. He knew he should feel more concerned than he did but… well he wasn't ashamed of his allegiance. Carver was helping Teddy to his feet, at least his family was alive and his Shadows must've retreated. Just as James took a spit second to relax, the female Auror turned on Carver.

Time to slow as she jabbed her wand violently at his back in panic, Carver's perfect body lurched in the air. He screamed in pain as blood erupted from his back and chest as if he'd just been stabbed clean through. James could only watch him fall helplessly, shock consuming all sound and thought. Carver fell onto his chest and he didn't get up, tears filled his eyes as grief tore through his insides. Dead. Carver was dead.

"You killed him," James said accusingly to the female Auror, ignoring his family calling his name as his gaze focused on her murderously. Grief boiled into anger and every fiber of his body started to tremble with rage, "You killed him! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!"

"Ja-"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

James jabbed his wand at the female Auror, his aim straight and steady. For the first time, a jet of death left his wand and luminous green filled his vision while the rush of power drowned his ears. This time it happened too fast. The female Auror was taken too off-guard to react but Louis wasn't, he threw himself in front of Carver's killer. James' curse struck his cousin and Louis' corpse thumped lifelessly to the ground, his eyes locking sightlessly with his own. James staggered back in shock, in horror at what he'd done.

He'd killed his cousin. He'd killed his own cousin. The female Auror threw herself at his body, sobbing and James could only step back in a daze as he didn't feel capable of taking his eyes off what he'd done. He felt one of his Soul Eaters clap their hand on his shoulder and the Specters took them away.

* * *

Carver cried out in pain as he fell back to the grass with a soft thud, he tried to breathe but blood spluttered out instead. He felt a fear like none other he'd experienced so far sending a cold chill through him, this couldn't be it. He couldn't die, he didn't want to die. Not now, not like this. He still had so much to do, he had to save Leebin and Antonius and stop the war, stop the Shadow Master, help his family. He had so much to do, this couldn't be it.

"Healers are on their way," Teddy offered as he crouched beside him, looking concerned while Carver tried to focus through the pain, "Try to hold on, okay?"

"L-Leebin's-s… a-at a f-farm n-near W-With-Witheridge…" Carver choked out and gripped Teddy's hand to stop him going to stand as he was reacting to… whatever was happening out there, "M-Med-Meadow D-Downs… S-S-Sav-Save h-him pl-pl-please… I pr-pr- I promised… H-Hur-Hurry…"

"Okay," Teddy promised gently and Carver tried to tell him more, to tell him all he knew, to pass on his knowledge but he choked out more blood. It hurt to even try, "Save your strength, Healers are coming."

Carver would've nodded if he'd risk movement, his vison was failing him and squeezed Teddy's hand tightly to assure himself he was there. He wouldn't last until the Healers got there though, he could feel himself fading. He felt tears pricking his eyes pathetically, he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, he had so much to live for. There was still so much to do, so much to fix, so much to make right. Everything was unfinished. He'd failed.

He didn't want to die, at least couldn't he see his family again? All million of his siblings, try connect with his mother one last time. Whoever had said dying was like falling asleep - that it was peaceful - had lied to him. It hurt. It hurt to die. Why was he even dying? What had he even done to deserve this? He'd been bad in the past he knew but he'd been trying. He'd tried to do the right thing, he tried to be a better person. Didn't that matter? Didn't that count for something? Nothing he ever did had even mattered at all.

"I-I tr-tried…" Carver sobbed brokenly with his last breath, his voice fading away as he died.

* * *

James staggered down the steps, still feeling raw from the loss of Carver and Louis. Craving the solitude away from the rest of the Soul Eaters, except for the one person he still wanted to speak to. It was strange finding the room so empty but once they got the location there was no point in continuing to torture him so no torturer or Healer was necessary, they'd be shipped back to… wherever the hell they came from.

He glanced at Leebin, he'd been left alone and for the first time since his capture he was able to rest. Thinking of what Carver had said to him and Leebin, he _truly_ looked. He could've been an Inferi or a corpse, his skin was completely discolored from bruises. James approached, Leebin's emaciated frame was coiled protectively in the fetal position or as much as his broken limbs could allow. James sat beside him and ran his hand over the mutilated flesh gently, a map of the wounds James had caused or had told others to do.

James didn't find himself repulsed however and still attracted to him, on the contrary actually he was quite satisfied by the damage he'd inflicted and liked the texture. He didn't feel a flicker of guilt or a shred of remorse, he didn't understand why he should. Leebin had brought this upon himself, he deserved it and could've stopped it at any time by cooperating anyway. James was in the right here, he knew he was. He ran his hand through Leebin's hair which made him scowl, now _that_ did bother him. It was no longer soft as he preferred but filthy, a tangled mess matted with dirt and blood. He liked Leebin's ear though, the pieces he'd cut out around the edges made it feel like a kind of jagged star.

He moved his hand away, flicking his eyes to Leebin's face but the man hadn't stirred. He was still alive, his gentle breaths were rattily but exhaustion continued to claim him. James felt a spark of anger flicker back inside him, Leebin was _sleeping_ while his best friend and cousin had died, died because he was so much of a coward he'd told them where Calderon was except Calderon wasn't even there! He tried very hard to snuff out that spark though, he wanted to talk to Leebin and Carver… Carver had wanted him to be nicer to his prisoner. James forced himself to swallow his rage and withdrew the canteen he'd proud, quickly charming some water to fill it. Normal, non-scalding refreshing water like what Carver had given him.

"Leebin?" James prompted but the man didn't move, James took his shoulder gently and shook it, "Leebin? Wake _up_."

Leebin continued to ignore him and James felt another jolt of anger, he was being _nice_ to Leebin and was being ignored? He stood up and angrily kicked at Leebin's already broken ribs, Leebin startled awake then in panic and pain.

"WAKE UP!" James roared at him and Leebin quailed in terror, "I'm trying to be nice to you, you ungrateful son of a bitch!"

"I'm sorry?" Leebin croaked in confusion and James took a deep breath to try calm himself before sitting back down.

"Do you want some water?" James offered and lifted the canteen, Leebin flinched fearfully, "Its regular water, it's not going to scald you."

"N-No," Leebin quivered, raised his head just enough to shake it which infuriated James to no end.

"I'm trying to be nice to you, take the water!"

James raged grabbed Leebin's hair and yanked it roughly, lifting his head better so he could shove the nozzle of the canteen into his mouth to force the water down his throat. Leebin choked on the water but James didn't stop until it was all gone, he smacked him in the face with the metallic container before throwing the spluttering Leebin back to the ground.

"When I'm trying to be nice to you, you let me be nice to you dammit!" James spat at him angrily, "I could be cruel to you know?! I have every right to be angry with you for telling me the location!"

"You're mad I told you what you wanted to know?" Leebin mused, flicking his bloodshot eyes in his direction with a lack of understanding clear in his expression.

"Yes! Because we went there and Carver was killed! He was _killed_, Leebin! Dead! I watched my best friend die!" James screamed at him, tears flying wildly from his eyes and Leebin did have the decency to look saddened by the news, "And that's on you! You and that bitch who murdered him! So I could be mean to you but I'm _not_ because Carver didn't want that so stop being so damn difficult!"

"What do you actually _want_ from me?" Leebin croaked, looking at a loss and James took another breath, fingering Leebin's wedding ring.

"After Carver… After Carver _died_, I tried to avenge him," James admitted, forcing the surreal words out and biting back more tears, "I fired the Killing Curse for the first time at her but my cousin… my cousin jumped in the way, he saved her, that woman. But he got struck by the curse instead. I killed my own cousin, I killed Louis. And I feel terrible, really, I never wanted him to get hurt let alone dead. I never had anything against Louis. But… another part of me feels like it was justified, I mean it's not _my_ fault that he got in the way, how was I ever supposed to predict that or stop that? And maybe it's his fault anyway for being on the wrong side.

"It has made me think a lot about my family right now. Most of them _are_ on the wrong side and I'm a Soul Eater, I _want_ the world to change, I _want_ the Shadow Master. But they don't and I don't think many of them are going to change, if they are against us then… well maybe they deserve to die. The Soul Eaters have killed some of my family already and I kind of feel it's justified, they could kill more and I'd feel it's justified still. If they're not going to be part of the new world then they shouldn't get to live in it, it's sad but it's true and it makes me feel bad. So then there's the other part of me again that wonders whether the Shadows are right after all, is it really worth the new world if my family has to die? But then it's not like my family ever really care about me anyway, the Soul Eaters make me feel like I belong. It's been brought to my attention though that I might not always think about things clearly, would my family care if I turned back to their side? Carver said he was a Shadow but… I don't know, I don't think he is-" James forced down a sob as he had to correct himself, "_Was_ into their beliefs as much as he said he was. And he died trying to help them."

"I don't know, Leebin, I really don't know. I don't know what to think or what to do or who to turn to, I don't even know what's right or wrong or if I'm bad or good for killing my cousin. I don't know and it scares me," James explained and sighed as he glanced at Leebin, "And I know _you_ wouldn't know that because you're _nothing _but I just wanted to know… Do you remember before? Do you remember when you first captured and… and you said there was still hope for me?"

"I remember," Leebin admitted.

"Do you still think that there's hope for me?" James queried and to his surprise Leebin laughed, an empty, bitter, joyless laugh.

"You ask me _that _after _everything_ you've done to me?!" Leebin questioned of him as if it dumbfounded him.

"Well, yes."

"No, James, I don't think there's any hope for you! You're a _monster_, you're a sick, twisted bastard and I hope you die!" Leebin yelled at him, his voice cracking at the end as if he knew he'd pay for saying it and he was right.

"_CRUCIO!"_ James cried furiously as he leapt to his feet and jabbed his wand at Leebin who again became a target for his anger, how dare he say that to _him_?! "_CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"_

Leebin screamed as his broken body contorted aggravating his physical injuries. James was glad, he hoped it hurt, he wanted it to hurt. Leebin's screaming intensified as James willed unbearable agony upon him, watching his body twisting painfully without remorse.

"_CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"_

Without warning James felt his wand ripped from his fingers, it flew back and clattered onto the ground. James spun to the doorway in shock, his eyes only widening further when he saw Harry Potter was the one standing there with a handful of Aurors behind him. Apparently they'd found their location. His own father had disarmed him, he saw a tear roll down his father's face and the hurt in his eyes which caused anger to tear at his heard again. Why could his father just never be proud of him? James summoned his wand to his hand with wandless magic and disapparated, there was no hope for him here. He'd burned that bridge.


	14. Chapter 14: Hollow Victories

_**Parts (54-57)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 14  
**

Hollow Victories

* * *

**Part 1: **Cruel Fates

* * *

Tom Riddle III or Marius Calderon or Tommy was lying down on his bed, whatever his name was. He didn't know what it was anymore, he didn't think it mattered. He was just him and he locked away now, locked away forever.

It was a sizeable room he supposed, there was plenty of space if he wanted to get up and walk around. There was a door leading to a small bathroom nestled in the corner if he needed the toilet, there was a shower too but they were the ones who could turn on the shower so it was only used once every other day. The sink worked though, he could wash his hands and get water to drink at will. He had a relatively large comfortable bed, a window above albeit barred and was given several proper meals a day.

He couldn't fault them for comfort, he was treated so much better than his childhood in Azkaban or his time as a prisoner of his father's Death Eaters. No, as far as captors go it wasn't bad he supposed. Of course he couldn't leave, prisoners couldn't leave. He didn't want to leave anyway, he didn't want to do anything.

He'd only get up when the Aurors were taking him for a shower or urging him to eat or when his discomfort at needing to relieve himself was strong enough, that was his life. His body always felt so heavy, it never ceased to surprise him how easily it moved. He thought it was like going to lift something that should weigh a lot but someone had put a Featherlight Charm on without him realizing.

Every day he was injected with the Magic Repressing Potion, it sapped both his magic and his strength. All of his strength. So he lay there listlessly day in and day out, drifting in and out of consciousness staring up at the ceiling. He could have been there weeks, could've been there years, he didn't know anymore. He was just waiting to die really, that was the only way he could see his imprisonment ending.

He'd always thought he'd die a prisoner, he'd spent half his life as one and the other half assisting at Hogwarts. It had all come crashing down around him though, the staff had turned on him – all except Ticcy, which had been nice of him – and his cousin had even said he hated him. That hurt.

You couldn't just life your life when you were the son of Voldemort, the world would always be against you no matter how hard you'd tried to protect. He'd had a good run, he'd had some good times, met some good people. It was more than he could've hoped for as a child.

"Riddle?" an Auror barked and he heard footsteps as well as the opening door.

"Hmm?" he wondered tiredly, turning his head too much effort to see.

"Just making sure you're alright here, been a tough day," the Auror said sounding relieved before the door closing, "I'll leave you to it."

"'Kay," he muttered as he heard the Auror's footsteps leaving.

The rest of the world seemed so far away from him now, along with all the concerns and people in it. He felt like he was fading away, like he wasn't really there anymore. He wondered what had got the Aurors riled up, he didn't have the energy to sigh. Oh well.

* * *

"Well just because you saw him torturing Leebin, it doesn't mean your son is a Shadow," Cel offered comfortingly, "He could've been Imperised or possessed, there's still hope."

"You didn't _see_ it, Cel," Harry shot out angrily, lifting his head from his hands to turn on his friend, "I looked into my son's eyes – Ginny's eyes – and I know it was him, it was _my_ boy willing Flan to suffer even more after… Merlin knows what. There was no sympathy, no remorse, no hesitation just rage. He _wanted_ Flan to be in pain so he inflicted pain on him, it's not like he hasn't done it before just with his fists instead."

"Well maybe Leebin did something to justify incurring his wrath, we don't know."

"I wouldn't torture the Shadow Master if he was in as bad a state as Flan, nothing he could possibly do could justify it," Harry insisted miserably and his stomach churned sickeningly as something else occurred to him, "What if James is partly responsible for his physical state as well? Is _my own son_ really that bad? Do you think he'd really do that? How could he do that to another human being?"

"I-"

"What is _wrong_ with me, Cel?!" Harry demanded hopelessly feeling tears welling behind his eyes, "What did I do wrong? I was there when he was born, I used to be able to cradle him in my arms and bounce him on my knee, I named him after my dad… And now he's beating children, torturing my friends and k-killing... How am I ever supposed to look Bill in the eye again? I can't even deal with that. Where did I go wrong?"

"You can't blame yourself, Harry."

"My oldest friend and my eldest child _both_ defected. It can't just be a coincidence, there has to be something I'm doing wrong. I'm failing the world, I'm failing my family," Harry admitted solemnly, "I used to be Chosen One, I took out Voldemort. Now I'm just a failure."

"You done wallowing in your pathetic self-pity?" a familiar yet not gruff voice questioned and they both glanced up to see Hogan Leebin, his deceased Auror mentor's identical twin. Harry didn't know if it was just him but he always found it strange to see his face on a different person, hear the same voice.

"Excuse me, we're having a private conversation here," Cel complained irritably.

"You can't have a private conversation in a public place, you idiot," Hogan sniped immediately and threw out his arms, they were in a waiting room in St Mungo's, "We're waking up Flan now so if you still wanted to see him then come on, if you're not then get out of my hospital or at least stop bitching like whiny little brats."

"Could you_ try _show some compassion?"

"Compassion for what? The has-been of a hero responsible for almost getting my nephew and his family killed?"

"H-"

"Its fine, Cel," Harry brushed it off guiltily, he deserved that, "What did you come to tell us?"

"We're waking Flan up now so if you still wanted to see him, now's the time," Hogan informed him bluntly, his expression as grim as his brother's, "If you're not then get the hell out of my hospital."

"We'll see him," Harry confirmed and jumped to his feet immediately albeit nervously as did Cel.

"We need to find out what he knows," Cel added as he also jumped up, Hogan turned and Harry made to follow him but Cel grabbed his arm back gently as he dropped his voice to a whisper, "You know if you don't feel comfortable to do this so soon after James… then it's okay, I can find out what he knows for us."

"No, its fine," Harry brushed it off while Hogan cast Cel a suspicious glance, "He's my friend and it's my fault he was in this situation, I want to see him."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Harry insisted, he knew Cel and Flan didn't have the best relationship with Flan thinking he was a Shadow before which while wrong still probably meant Flan wouldn't be keen on seeing him especially so soon after escaping hell.

"Hey!" a woman's voice blurted out and they turned in time to see Flan's petite werewolf wife hurrying over to them with a desperate anxious expression, "Where is Flan? How is Flan? Can I see him? Is he okay?"

"We're just about to see him now. How is he, Hogan?"

"He's stable," Hogan answered testily as he folded his arms with a dark look at the poor woman, "In a way he's quite lucky, Shadows tend to use corrupted wands which makes their victims resistant to healing magic so recovery takes a lot longer than usual. They didn't do that with Flan though, I suspect because it'd be easier to keep him alive during his extensive torture since the dead can't talk. He's still been through an immense amount, he'll have extensive scarring and we can't regrow limbs. Recovery will still be a slow process."

"Thanks for telling me about my husband by the way," Myriam complained at him with a scowl that Hogan fully returned.

"I'm so sorry, how selfish of me to stay up over twenty-four hours straight working on piecing my nephew's broken body back together and trying to keep him alive instead of owling you so you can hang around in the way."

"Can we just see him?" Harry wondered and Hogan rolled his eyes.

"Yes. Beat it, Myriam."

"What? But he's my husband, I want to see him," Myriam protested, looking hurt at the thought of being denied access.

"It can wait until the Aurors are done after I talk to you, wouldn't want to keep the famous Harry Potter waiting now would we?" Hogan said in a continued tone of disrespect, making Myriam look distraught.

"It alright if she comes in with us," Harry offered and Hogan rolled his eyes.

"_Fine _then let's all go see him," Hogan agreed clearly reluctantly and threw up his hands in exasperation before stalking over to the door, Harry hadn't noticed Cel had already walked over there, "Don't say I didn't warn you though."

Harry scowled in concern at this odd phrasing as they followed after Hogan, he spotted Flan immediately in the bed. He was looking admittedly better but in all fairness, he didn't think Flan could've been in worse shape than he'd been in when they found him. The bruises on his face and neck – and presumably across his body too – had been healed, showing off his pale face once more. He still had scars though, faded marks around his eyes and neck. His hands were bandaged, several fingers either missing completely or partially so, all had had the nails removed. His face was still gaunt as it would take time to put some weight back on, his nose was now also crooked as if it had been broken several times and his ears had been stitched back in a coherent way. He seemed to have been washed as his reddish-brown hair was now clean, hanging around his face which he noticed still had dark circles of exhaustion around his eyes. Myriam rushed over with tear-filled eyes to take his hand gently.

"Back off," Hogan growled and she jolted her hand away as if burned, he waved his barely noticeably at Flan who immediately stirred, "You might freak him out."

"Flan?" Myriam questioned of her husband as his yes fluttered open, looking as if she was very much resisting the urge to take his hand or just touch, "Flan? Sweetheart, it's me."

"Gazkananork grogthanarganarth," Flan babbled out as he sat up, an ill-fitting smile on his face and Myriam frowned in confusion.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention," Hogan spoke up as he folded his arms once more, "He's mad."

"Danakaka caraway!" Flan cried excitedly as he looked between the people around him without a flicker of recognition in his cyan eyes, grinning widely and Harry felt his spirits plummet, "Stansinark sukon markarakay donkarona supaxkanar."

"No, no, Flan, it's me. Its Myriam, I'm your wife," Myriam told him as some of her tears leaked from her eyes, he continued smiling at her not noticing she was upset.

"Skronjaka maydanahue," Flan continued to babble gibberish with a smile on his face before picking up some sponge left by his bed with his remaining fingers to offer to her, "Gronthanagahi mojakus crebeblihi!"

"I don't want that," Myriam pushed it away, her voice cracking while he continued to smile obliviously.

"Maybe he's just pretending?" Cel offered lamely.

"He's not pretending," Hogan shook his head with certainty while Flan went to put the sponge in his mouth, Hogan gently moved his hand back and took it from, "Not for eating."

"Misthacananoku," Flan babbled, gazing at his uncle still smiling.

"Flan? Flan? Flan? Come on, Flan? Flan? Flan?" Myriam started questioning seeing if he responded to his name but he continued rambling incoherently off to his uncle, she choked on a sob, "This isn't fair. He was saved, after whatever kinds of horror he went through he was _saved_. He should get a chance to recover, he shouldn't- he shouldn't have to be like this. It's not fair. H-He has a l-life and k-kids. Flan, please."

"Is there any chance of him recovering?" Harry asked sadly, sharing in Myriam's grief at the unfairness of the situation and a lump clenched in his gut.

James had been torturing him, had he been the one to snap Flan's mind? Had his own son driven someone literally insane? Flan obliviously continued babbling gibberish, turning excitedly to talk to each of them. Harry was reminded oddly of a baby, imitating speech without understanding what any of the words meant.

"Unlikely," Hogan stated the obviously while Myriam buried her face in her hands, her shoulders starting to shake as she silently cried.

"Have you tried Legilimency? It might still be a way to find out what he knows," Cel spoke up, "I could try look through his memories, maybe we can see who specifically did this to him. We may not be able to save him but there's a chance to see who we need to bring to justice."

"Be my guest," Hogan offered and gestured for Cel to go on uncommonly quickly, Cel whipped out his wand and cleared his throat.

"_Legilimens!"_ Cel cried as he jabbed his wand at Flan, to his surprise Flan screamed and there was a flash as a bolt of lightning shot out from him to strike Cel. Cel was flung back violently, tossed painfully into the wall.

"Cel!" Harry yelled worriedly and ran over to him.

Cel nodded numbly and cringed as Harry helped him up, looking a tad dazed while glanced back to the Leebins. Flan was now screaming gibberish hysterically and crying, rocking back and forth while his distraught wife tried to calm him. Hogan was watching the Aurors with amusement, alone looking unsurprised as Harry helped Cel back over to him.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"What? No," Hogan scoffed in a tone of an obvious lie, not bothering to hide the delight on his face, "I mean _sure_ a Legilimens tried _similar _to that before as part of the sanity gauging but how was _I_ supposed to know that a _trained _Auror would also have trouble? I figured it couldn't hurt to try."

"It did hurt, you upset Flan!" Myriam insisted although he'd stopped screaming, he continued rocking and crying as he babbled in a whisper though.

"Not to mention throwing me against a wall!" Cel pointed out indignantly while Hogan disinterestedly studied his nails, "Why is he like that anyway? His mind is supposed to mush not a brick wall that shoots lightning bolts."

"Well Flan _is_ an Occlumens," Hogan said as it was obvious, "I imagine he was using it to defend his mind or cope somehow with his torture so his mind snapping from the strain might've been different to usual. He built a fortress to protect his mind from invaders and tried to crawl into it to escape the pain like a coward, only he wound up getting trapped inside. He can't get back out to his body and you can't get back in to his mind."

"You're an idiot."

"Says the guy who just got smacked into the wall by a mental patient," Hogan smirked.

"Could you _try _being a human? You know, for once," Myriam snapped at him irritably while Harry was distracted noticing red bleeding into Cel's sandy hair.

"Cel, you're bleeding," Harry pointed out and Cel put a hand to the back of his head, cringing as he touched the bloody spot.

"Figured there was a reason it stung so bad," Cel admitted and looked to Hogan, "Do you mind healing it?"

"Yes, I mind," Hogan scoffed.

"You're seriously not going to heal him?" Harry wondered in astonishment, Hogan looked rather unwavering.

"Nope. I don't heal people who call me an idiot."

"So then you must not heal a lot of people," Myriam quipped irritably, still trying to calm Flan who had finally stopped crying but just rocked as he mumbled quietly.

"This is a hospital, go find another Healer," Hogan waved them off as his tone took on a nasty edge once more, "I just wanted you to see the damage _you_ did to my nephew, to your mentor's _only _child. And don't give me that he volunteered for it crap, he'd help anyone because he's dumb as goat shit and too nice _not _to help someone unless of course that person is his own father. He didn't know any better but you did and you let him do this, this is on you and that's _without_ touching upon the fact your sick twisted excuse for a son is at least partly responsible for butchering my brother's little boy. How do you live with yourself, Harry? Not even Flan deserved this."

"How do you? You're a hypocrite."

"Least I can see what's right in front of me," Hogan quipped and for a split second, Harry could've thought his eyes drifted to Cel.

"Gamnanort!" Flan burst out abruptly before laughing, smiling once more as he looked between them, "Groznadama zytun mylarka toop."

"Come on, let's find someone else to heal you," Harry spoke up, aware of Cel's head still bleeding and kind of wanted to not be there anymore. He led his friend away, his heart sinking further with every step while Flan babbled madly along behind him.

* * *

Maurice lay miserably in bed as he had been since being released from the hospital, lying on his side facing away from the door even though he knew it wasn't the most strategic direction to be facing. He was not in the mood to care though and it wouldn't matter anyway, he couldn't take his eyes off the bandaged stump where his left hand used to be. Where his left hand _should_ be. But it was gone now, his former mentor – who _would_ die for this, rest assured - had taken it from him, had taken his hand. It hurt. Mentally rather than physically, he just felt hurt.

He was distracted by the light from the window – although he had the curtains drawn - being blocked off, he shifted his oceanic eyes to see his twin standing there in the way with a bowl of presumably soup if the other bowls were anything to go by. He hadn't eaten, he wasn't hungry but they kept bringing him soup anyway. Orous was speaking but Maurice didn't bother touching his necklace, he didn't care what his brother – he still didn't know what Pyrrhus had meant by that – had to say, he just wasn't interested. Besides, usually he would hold his necklace with his left hand keeping his right dominant hand free in case he needed to draw his wand. He didn't _have_ a left hand anymore though.

'I brought you soup,' Orous signed instead after putting the bowl down.

"I lost my hand not my eyes," Maurice snapped at him irritably and Orous looked disheartened, he just wanted to be left alone.

'You need to eat.'

"Piss off."

'Are you ready to return to Hogwarts tomorrow?'

"Sure, it's so easy to pack with one hand," Maurice barked at him angrily and Orous sighed, "I'll get it done, I didn't remove much from my trunk anyway."

'Do you want some help?'

"No."

'You can talk to me, you know?' Orous offered with a sympathetic expression.

"For the last time, I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone."

'Look, I know you're hurting right now,' Orous signed the blatantly obvious and Maurice could only glare at him darkly, why couldn't he go back to not wanting to spend time with him, 'But you need to pull yourself together, it's horrible but it's just a hand. When it heals a bit more you can get prosthetics, you'll still be able to move it and stuff. Plus you're right-handed so you still have your dominant arm.'

"I know that but I don't care," Maurice insisted darkly, "I don't want a prosthetic hand, I want my hand. I want my hand back. My own hand. I need my hand."

'Professor Longbottom manages alright with a prosthetic for his arm.'

"Professor Longbottom isn't also deaf!" Maurice yelled at him in frustration or at least he hoped he was yelling while tears pricked his eyes, "Maybe it's not a big deal for you but it is for me. With a prosthetic you can move your hand sure but you can't feel it, you can't feel if something has a texture or if it's soft or hard or grainy or hot or cold, you can't feel it. I'm already deaf, Orous, and usually I'm okay with that but it is a sense that I'm down. I can't hear and now I can't feel? Why don't you just gouge out my eyes, shove sand in my nose and cut out my tongue so that I have nothing. I know that sounds really stupid when I say it out loud and I shouldn't care about it but I do, it bothers me to think I can't feel a thing."

'It's not stupid, Maurice, you're allowed to feel things, you're allowed to feel hurt. But you do till have your other hand, you know that right?'

"Stop trying to make me feel better, you jackass," Maurice spat at him miserably.

Orous sighed, seeming to realize – finally – that he was fighting a losing battle. He didn't leave though. Instead he took Maurice's remaining hand gently, giving it a tight comforting squeeze for a minute as if to assure him that it was still there or that he was still there or both before leaving. He flexed his fingers and glanced once more at the stump where he so fervently wished there was a hand. If only he'd fought better, it hurt to think he only had himself to blame really. If he couldn't save his own hand, how was he supposed to save the world? He wanted his hand back, he wanted his girlfriend back. He didn't like loss. He tore his eyes away from the stump, instead he buried his face in his pillow and cried.

* * *

**Part 2: **Failure

* * *

Scorpius returned to the hideout feeling immensely disappointed by the whole trip, all that for nothing, he'd gotten his hopes up for nothing. He returned home in defeat after making sure Molly was alright, she was still resting. He spent some time with the toddlers at home, lamenting both Sol and Lysel were missing a relative – a cousin and father – who he wished they could see. He thought Calderon would like Sol and he knew Leebin loved his son, he was doubtful either would see the toddlers again though just as he was doubtful Crescentius would meet his nephew. Why couldn't the world just leave everyone alone?

The next day was the last before he'd be back to Hogwarts so he made sure to pack in readiness, not that there was much considering Easter break wasn't very long. He did have some chocolate eggs to bring back that he was sure his friends – mostly Albus – would enjoy though, he wished Antonius could enjoy them too. He didn't even want to go back to Hogwarts, he wanted to stay with Gray to fight the Shadows. Even though it had amounted to nothing, it was closer to progress then he was failing at apparation and Quidditch. He trudged downstairs through the manor and was surprised to find Myriam leaving in a hurry.

"What's up with her?" Scorpius wondered in confusion to his parents.

"They found her husband, he's in St Mungo's so she's going to see him," his mother offered quietly to Scorpius' incredible surprise, her eyes drifted anxiously to where the children played. Maurene was having a tea party with the boys it seemed.

"Is… Is he alright? What happened?"

"The letter didn't say, I told you all I know."

Scorpius nodded in understanding and headed back upstairs, wondering what in the world had happened. Had the Aurors actually done something useful? How? More like the Shadows had willingly given him up, maybe he'd caved but since Calderon wasn't there they had no more use for him. But then why not just kill him? He wanted Leebin to live but the Shadows had no reason to. He portkeyed back over to the hideout and was relieved to find Varanian immediately in the kitchen with Annie, they were laughing about something before he came in.

"What happened?" Scorpius questioned immediately, "I heard Leebin was found?"

"He was," Varanian answered, sobering instantly, "After we left the farmhouse some major things went down."

"You know, if there was an award for pleasantries and small talk then you two would lose," Annie pointed out and gestured to each of them, "Not only would you lose but you'd be the last because you two are literally the worst, mutes could do better than you."

"Are you done?" Varanian wondered and she nodded before going back to sipping a cup of coffee while Varanian turned back to him, "Leebin must've told the Shadows because they also came looking for Calderon, there was a duel but they started to retreat quite early as they must've realized Calderon wasn't there. James Potter lost his mask in the fight revealing himself to be a Shadow, Carver Edwards apparently tried to help the Aurors and based off what you said about Martha I think he might've been the sibling helping Florian which was why he wasn't part of the attack force and shouldn't have been there. He probably came alone for Florian and got caught up in the battle, he was mistakenly killed and in retaliation for his death James ended up accidentally killing his cousin, Louis Weasley. Carver also passed on Leebin's location before he died so the Aurors raided their base, they saved Leebin and he's in St Mungo's."

"How is he?" Scorpius wondered, both out of concern and hope he'd know something. He resisted the urge to sigh sadly, he'd liked Louis.

"Not good," Annie said with a shake of her head, "He's been tortured extensively both magically and non, they've done a good job keeping him alive to suffer more so he should live. He'll be scarred but he'll live."

"Then that's good, right?"

"They drove him mad, Scorpius, his mind is broken," Annie told him solemnly and Scorpius felt is spirits sinking once more, "He'll probably spend the rest of his life in a mental institution or whatever wizards have instead."

"But that's not fair," Scorpius blurted out stupidly, knowing it was irrational but still feeling hurt, "He _survived_, he should get to be okay and live and see his family."

"He can see his family, he just won't know who they are because he doesn't even understand English anymore let alone have any awareness of who he is or who he's related to."

"I'm sorry," Varanian offered gently and Scorpius hung his head.

"Is err… Is Molly in?"

"In her room."

Scorpius nodded in understanding and headed upstairs, his feet dragging disappointedly along behind him. They hadn't managed to save Calderon, they hadn't managed to save Leebin, Louis had died. All Scorpius did was fail. He paused on the landing to press his face to his hands, trying to swallow the lump in his throat and quell the tears pricking at the back of his eyes. Molly had lost her cousin, his failures didn't compare to that so he needed to be composed. He took a deep breath and moved his hands away, finally moving on to knock at her door.

"It's open," Molly called distractedly and Scorpius went in. She was sitting on her bed, leaning back against the pillows with her knees hugged to her chest. Her eyes were red as if she'd been crying but her tears had dried now, "Hey Scor."

"How you holding up?" Scorpius asked gently as he closed the door behind him, going to sit beside her and putting his arm around her to rub it soothingly.

"Not too bad I guess," Molly shrugged, still looking unhappy but she nestled herself against him anyway, "I've already lost my mother, my father, my uncle Charlie, my aunt Fleur, my grandfather so why not my cousin?"

"I'm sorry," Scorpius told her sincerely and held her close, he knew Louis from Quidditch after all, "Louis was a good person."

"And James killed him."

"Is it weird I'm not surprised?" Scorpius wondered truthfully, "He was never a good person."

"No, he's not. If he kills again his soul will turn black and he'll truly fall to the Shadows, until then he has a chance," Molly told him distantly and he glanced at her in surprise.

"How do you know that?"

"I just know random things sometimes," Molly scoffed before sighing, "Like I know Freddie and Caitlin's unborn baby is a girl, I know the Ballycastle Bats will win the British and Irish Quidditch League this year, I know Varanian will propose to Annie, I know some woman named Claudia is relevant somehow, I know it will rain tomorrow. I know this useless random crap but I don't know anything important like who the Shadow Master is or where Calderon is being held or how to save Antonius or oh yeah, that my cousin was going to die. It's so frustrating, I don't know how my grandfather did it."

"What makes you think he was any better at seeing relevant things?" Scorpius queried curiously.

"Because in my mother's childhood home there's a letter addressed to Molly Mavis Weasley to be opened in 2024 that was written when Voldemort was still in power," Molly told him casually and Scorpius froze in shock, feeling rather disturbed all of a sudden, "Oh yes and I know it exists because Roman's seen it, the day his parents died two weeks before his tenth birthday and he's almost thirty-six now. Magnus knew and if he could know that much that far away… I should be able to be more useful."

"You_ are_ useful, Molly," Scorpius assured her seriously, "Magnus was an adult, he had years to hone his Seer abilities. You're not even nineteen yet, you can't compare yourself to him."

"But I have to, Scor, because I don't have time," Molly insisted, looking afraid for a moment before composing herself again, "I mean there might not be anyone left to save by the time I learn how to get useful information."

"We could say that of all of us, we failed to save Leebin."

"I told you we wouldn't."

"My point is it's not your fault, not seeing something doesn't mean it's your fault if someone dies," Scorpius insisted, "It's not any of our faults, we're only human and we're doing the best we can."

"Yet you still feel a failure," Molly pointed out.

"It's not the same thing," Scorpius said determinedly and Molly sighed before leaning back against him, he started rubbing her shoulder comfortingly again as they sat in silence staring aimlessly off out the window opposite. He missed this now she wasn't in Hogwarts, being able to speak to her and just be close to her.

"I miss it too," Molly muttered.

* * *

Michael was having a lousy Easter, the entire week he'd been stuck grappling with the decision on whether to save John or not. He didn't want to save him. He didn't like John, he didn't want anything to do with John, he didn't want his family to have anything to do with John. But then letting him die was wrong even though – maybe especially because - John wanted to die, who was Michael to decide who lived and died anyway? John hadn't really done anything to deserve death – at least as far as Michael knew – and his death_ would_ hurt his family contrary to what John believed, they were quite taken with his… whatever non-existent positive quality they liked about him.

Still though, he needed a drink and the day before he return to Hogwarts he came to realize that he knew what he had do. He was just putting it off because he didn't want to but he would, he just hoped he wouldn't end up living to regret it. And so that night he headed back upstairs to where John was resting with his raspy breathing, Michael pulled up his shirt and poured the contents of the vial of cure onto the wound.

John's eyes shot open in shock but it was too late and Michael already had his wand out, he focused and nonverbally forced the cure to move inside him. John gasped but Michael zoned out any sound or movement he was making, mentally focusing on his knowledge of the human body and guiding the cure through it like he'd seen Rojer do to rid Scorpius of that poison. At least he hoped so, for all he knew he was failing and the cure was just stuck somewhere but he couldn't focus on that. Finally, John's body arched as Michael forced it out of his mouth. He watched as it shot out into the air like a burst of fireworks just one with moldy silver sparks, they disintegrated into the air like it had never been there at all. John fell back breathing heavily and looking extremely drained while Michael pocketed his wand.

"What the hell-"

"I know you don't want to live but I don't care," Michael cut him off and the cerulean eyes glowered at him darkly, "I don't even like you but I saved you anyway because it's the right thing to do, just like it's the right thing to do for you to_ not_ kill yourself. And if you are going to do it then at least have the decency to look my mother in the eye and tell her why because for some inexplicable reason those people downstairs_ do_ care about you, you may have no obligation to help them but you still chose to so you owe them a reason why you're going to abandon them like this because that is exactly what you're doing if you kill yourself. Except unlike all those times when my dad abandoned me, you won't be able to come back if you change your mind."

Michael didn't wait for nor care for John's response, he stalked back downstairs irritably where Crystal was cleaning dishes. He threw away the now empty vial and Crystal noticed him, looking extremely anxious.

"What's wrong?" Michael wondered distractedly and she nodded to the radio which was not playing.

"Said on the radio a minute ago that Mexico has fallen to the Shadows now," Crystal explained and Michael did feel a pang of concern himself, he sighed but pushed aside thoughts of them. This wasn't the time.

"I saved John's life," Michael announced and her head shot back to him in surprise, "It was Alchemy, I brought it back with me from Hogwarts."

"What? Why did you wait so long?" Crystal wondered in confusion.

"Because your not-boyfriend is suicidal so you may want to watch that," Michael pointed out before turning on his heel, leaving her jaw to drop as he had to go pack his trunk, "Night."

* * *

Scorpius clung to the last fragments of moments with Molly before reluctantly having to leave, returning home and only feeling worse seeing Leebin's kids. And Myriam, looking extremely disheartened after visiting her husband, apparently Annie was right about his state of mind. He drifted off that night into an uneasy sleep where he found Antonius, except he too had been driven mad. He and Leebin had to be locked up except as soon as they were, they became sane again and begged to be let out but it was too late. They died there for some reason. He was glad to wake up and then it was the return to Hogwarts.

His grandmother actually had to show up for breakfast despite the werewolves to say goodbye to him, the Leebins actually went with him to the platform because the kids were excited to see it. They hadn't been told about their father it seemed as they were in good spirits, Scorpius didn't envy that conversation. Like earlier at the start of the year, he let Sol ride on the trolley except this time with the other two. They enjoyed it and Scorpius was glad although it wasn't enough, it didn't make up for the fact they'd lost their father to insanity. They were actually quite late though having to get the kids ready and it was raining so Scorpius didn't have much time after arriving to find his friends or say goodbye, he could only say hi in passing to Michael, Abby, Vern and Maurice – who had his left arm in a sling – as they went off to the prefect compartment.

He got a compartment with Albus, Rose, Corin, Orous and Lily was joining them as well apparently to sit with her boyfriend. Orous filled them in what had happened with Florian and about Mexico falling while the Potters and Weasley seemed quiet, presumably because of Louis' death and James' betrayal. Corin did most of the talking after that, bragging about how wonderful Easter in Beauxbatons was although Scorpius got the impression his tales were geared more for keeping their minds off things for once. It was still raining when they arrived, he tried to get a carriage with some of his prefect friends since he hadn't seen them and Michael filled him in on what had happened with John while Maurice ignored them completely. It wasn't until they were back in the castle where he became very animated.

"HEY MARTHA!" Maurice screamed abruptly.

Scorpius jolted in surprise and saw Martha ahead of them turning at the sound of her name, Maurice had already grabbed her arm with his only remaining hand to haul her into a nearby abandoned classroom. Scorpius hurried in after them, Martha had whipped out her wand and already fired a spell at Maurice who was dodging it. He jumped in between them in panic, holding up an arm in the direction of each of them to keep them apart.

"What the hell?!" Scorpius demanded of the both of them, both looking quite irate.

"He attacked me!" Martha protested defensively but did lower her wand, "Self-defense."

"Tell me where your uncle is!" Maurice demanded of her, looking very torn between drawing his wand or touching his necklace but was forced to settle on the latter.

"I don't know where he is."

"Liar!" Maurice barked at her but she seemed unfazed, "Tell me the truth or I'll torture you and I'll do a much better job than whatever idiotic untrained Shadow boy they have running around here!"

"No you won't!" Scorpius snapped at him but he was ignored.

"No you won't and even if you did it would be a waste of time because I don't know, not that I'd tell you anyway," Martha stated firmly, "He's on the_ run_, you bloody lunatic, he doesn't stay in one place or he'd be caught. He's mad not stupid."

"He is stupid!" Maurice insisted angrily, "He cut off my hand and I'm going to murder him so don't stand in my way!"

"Maurice, seriously back off!" Scorpius complained at him before glancing back to her, "Although you now if you did know something, it would be really good of you to tell us if you still want to help."

"My brother tried to help and now he's dead," Martha said in a firm but quiet tone and he saw the tears building behind her cloudy gray eyes at the mention of him.

"I'm sorry about Carver," Scorpius offered gently and one of the tears rolled down her cheek, he'd completely forgotten about James' friend dying, "He was the one helping Florian, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

"Did they get Calderon?"

"I don't know, Scorpius," Martha insisted, "I was in contact with Carver not Pyrrhus, I haven't heard from him and I don't expect too. If I'm not even aware of the whole plan, why would be keep me to date on his progress?"

"I don't believe you," Maurice spat irrationally.

"Maurice, you're being ridiculous," Scorpius said pointedly but his friend did finally seem calm enough for him to lower his arms.

"I don't give a damn what you believe," Martha shot back and moved away, wiping her eye hastily, "So just leave me alone."

"Also, do you know Pyrrhus meant when he said I'd be killing my own brother if I killed all his family in revenge?" Maurice questioned and Scorpius felt his gut tie itself into an uncomfortable knot.

"Ask Scorpius," Martha said the words he hadn't wanted to hear so dismissively as she stalked out of the room while Maurice turned on him in surprise.

"What is she talking about?!"

"You erm… You know how Florian defected for something to do with his son?" Scorpius offered vaguely and Maurice nodded, "The boy is named Oathan Loren, Alzay is his mother so he's your half-brother."

"I have another brother?" Maurice wondered as his jaw dropped open.

"No you have three."

"Three?! Alzay had three more kids?!"

"She had two, Oathan by Florian and Vathan by Rabastan Lestrange. He's in Brutus' care now, they're about four and five," Scorpius informed him, wringing his hands nervously as he remembered what she'd said, "The third is from Roman, the son Leila Akram was searching for is his. His name is Cyrus, he's blind and can speak multiple languages so that's why Stephan's using him."

"How… When… She told you this that time she made me leave the room, didn't she?" Maurice questioned, looking actually lost for words as he ogled him in disbelief.

"Yes."

"You've known for weeks and you didn't think to tell me I had three brothers?!" Maurice screamed at him as his anger returned.

"I… I wasn't sure how you'd react…" Scorpius offered lamely.

Before he could think about it, Maurice had cocked back his fist and slammed it into his face. Scorpius fell back against the wall with his jaw now throbbing painfully, Maurice threw him a murderous look before stalking out without another word.

"Good going," Michael quipped from the doorway, reminding him of Annie before he offered him a hand up.

"Well I didn't expect that to go well anyway," Scorpius admitted and sighed, "Let's just get to dinner."

* * *

"Look at them," Oathan commented and pointed out of the window, they were in the backseat of a car once more and Antonius glanced disinterestedly to see them passing by a muggle schoolyard where children were playing.

"What about them?" Antonius wondered without interest, vaguely recalling when he went to a muggle school.

"They're normal kids," Oathan stated the brutally obvious.

"Yes they are."

"We're not like them, are we?" Oathan queried as he glanced back to him, his violet eyes had a twinge of regret as they caught Antonius' and he did find himself able to relate.

"No, we're not," Antonius admitted sadly, "I used to be though. Once. Back when I was about your age, when my mum didn't know about magic and my parents were still together, when I had friends my own age and we played stupid kid games, when I was in regular school trying hard to get a smiley face sticker and Uncle Jasper as alive. It's hard to remember it now, it feels like another life compared to what things are like now when everything's serious, life or death, war and darkness, pain and betrayal."

"We're here," Florian announced as the car came to a halt in between two cars that seemed to be crookedly parked, Antonius wiped his eyes quickly.

Antonius didn't see why he said that as upon letting them out of the car, he disapparated with them to somewhere else. They were always on the move, never stopping, never slowing. Now they were on a beach, golden sands stretched out around them with the deep cerulean waves lapping against it.

"Oh yay, I like the beach!" Oathan exclaimed excitedly as Florian started leading them away, presumably to a more secluded area since they didn't want muggles to see them practicing magic.

"My dad used to like the beach," Florian admitted in a solemn tone, "He liked to see all those little boys in bathing suits… He'd take it out on us though of course. How I loathed the beach, so many horrible memories."

"Why would he like that about the beach?" Antonius wondered in utter confusion that Oathan seemed to share in and Florian paused in surprise, turning back to him oddly with tears in his eyes.

He ogled him for a second as if trying to decide how likely it was he was honest before it shifted to a sad smile, he patted his shoulder comfortingly as if he'd forgotten – he probably had – that he'd murdered his uncle and was despised by Antonius.

"Never lose that innocence, boy," Florian offered before continuing on, "And be glad you don't know, be glad that you have those happy memories to hold onto as well. Not everyone does."

"Does that make you feel better about killing people? Thinking they have happy memories?" Antonius uttered irritably as they stopped in an area hidden somewhat by the cliffs and rocks, Florian rounded on him.

"Look, I'm doing the best I can, okay? That wrist scars are removed from the five now thanks mostly to new favorite niece so your friends no longer have to die, that's five lives saved," Florian insisted defensively, "Now we have a month and a half before the Shadow Master gets here, before she lays waste to this country and destroys the lives of those 'normal' kids by enslaving them, by enslaving everyone. Unless you master that spell to summon the Scepter and we find her brother, this country will soon be a bloodbath and is that _really _want you want, Antonius? Would you rather live in the world of the Shadows or die saving it? I know you hate me, fine I get it but that doesn't mean I'm wrong or that my plan is bad."

"Can't he _not_ die?" Oathan asked innocently.

"Not without worsening our chances of success, we only get one shot at this because if it fails then she kills us all and takes the wand back so the best possible chances even though Carver- Carver…" Florian paused at the name and choked on a sob, "I'm so sorry, Carver."

Florian then buried his face in his hands as he burst into tears. Oathan gave his father a hug and Antonius tried to inch away, seeing it as a possible chance for escape. He found himself hesitating though, was the Shadow Master really going to attack England so soon? Was it really down to him? If Florian was telling the truth about sparing his friends then… well was the plan really so horrible apart from it coming from two evil maniacs? Antonius still wasn't sure but the uncertainty stopped him fleeing. Instead he patiently waited for Florian to calm down, giving his boy a cuddle and wiping his eyes.

"Come on, we need to practice," Florian croaked as he withdrew Antonius' wand.

* * *

**Part 3: **What Has To Be Done

* * *

_Xerxes was still finding himself rather lonely without his children, Carver turned nine and had a wand now, Martha turned three. They were all getting so grown up. He started drinking more when trawling for women in bars, he did have more time to do that now his kids are busier with the Training Tower. It was the summer when he met the young barely of age Alayna Dawson, beautiful and blond who was doing an internship at the Daily Prophet. He didn't think much more of her – he was so drunk at the time he barely even remembered her - then anyone else until she contacted him a few months later._

_Dear Xerxes,_

_I am writing to inform you that I am pregnant with your child, I've decided to keep the baby and feel obligated to tell you as much. If you'd like to be involved, I'm open to it and if you don't then I'm fine with that. Let me know or I won't be contacting you again._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Alayna _

_Xerxes was delighted to be having another child, his seventh. Magical number seven, he still had it. He wrote her back immediately and arranged to meet her as soon as possible to work things out, he agreed to give her financial support and share in raising his baby but not be a couple. It was only after that he wondered whether getting involved like this with a reporter when he was working for an unground shady group. He pushed it aside though, what was the worst that could happen really? Carver's mother wanted him back yet again that winter just because her new boyfriend thought it was a good idea, he doubted that would last. The boy was getting really whiny lately, so what his mother had a loser for a boyfriend? What did Carver expect? She was too stupid and ugly to get a decent guy, he tended to just zone out when he complained about Pegasus. A stupid name if Xerxes had ever heard one, it was a horse's name._

_His seventh child and fifth son was born on the first day of March, they settled on the name Davin Aldous and she insisted on her own last name but he could live with that. He had a new baby to fawn over and care for, he was the greatest at being a dad. Life started to settle into a new routine, now including his new youngest son. Weeks turned to months and Xerxes was feeling good about life again, the Soul Eaters were really starting to gear up to starting their plans. Stephan was getting more responsibility, he was a teenager now. Xerxes couldn't believe it, his kids were growing up. Before he knew it another year had flown by and then he got Ethan's Hogwarts letter, the boy had technically been born in England so was on their list. As if he was going to let his son go to Hogwarts when they were planning on targeting it soon, it was his say for his motherless son and he said no._

* * *

"Let me help you with that!" Crystal blurted out immediately and rushed to help John with the dishes, regretting deciding to do them after going to the toilet since he'd started on them at all.

_Yes, I'm sure his desire to kill himself revolves around the dishes_, Bob's voice quipped sarcastically inside her mind before turning angry, _How dumb can you be, you stupid bitch?!_

"It's fine, Crystal, I got it," John brushed her off as he finished them.

_Freaking hell! You didn't even help him with the dishes?! What is wrong with you?! Now he's going to kill himself because you're such a lazy, ungrateful prick who didn't help him!_

"Don't look so devastated, they're just dishes," John offered and Crystal realized her upset must've showed on her face, "I'm glad to be able to do them again."

"Well let me at least help put them away," Crystal insisted and desperately snatched the pile of plates away from him before he could object.

Despite being cured she thought it would take a while before he was back to full strength. He gave her an odd luck but let her have them, instead starting to put away the glasses. She breathed a small sigh of relief and set to putting the plates away.

_What do you want? A medal? You did one pathetic thing,_ Bob's voice taunted, _You're worthless. Your son hates you for giving him such a crappy life, our elder daughter has half a face because you failed to protect her, our younger daughter is missing two fingers because you failed again to protect her, our younger son barely speaks because… you don't even know why because you're that shit a parent and you've driven the one guy in the world you like and owe more than anyone to want to commit suicide! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU WORTHLESS WHORE?!_

Crystal started in shock at the yelling in her mind, accidentally dropping the dishes. The plates she held fall to the floor and shattered into thousands of little white triangles. She practically threw herself down to start cleaning it up while Bob's voice exploded in her mind.

_AND NOW YOU BROKE HIS PLATES?! OH MY FUCKING GOD, CRYSTAL, COULD YOU BE ANYMORE USELESS!? HE'S GOING TO KILL HIMSELF NOW HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY PLATES! WHY DID YOU DO THIS AFTER ALL HE'S DONE FOR YOU?!_

"I'm sorry!" Crystal cried desperately as she burst into tears, "I'm so sorry."

_Saying sorry doesn't make it better, Crystal!_

"Its fine, Crystal, relax. They're just plates," John assured her and took her arms, pulling her gently to her feet. He then whipped out his wand and waved them over the shards, they repaired themselves immediately as if she'd never dropped them, "See? It's all fixed now anyway."

"I'm sorry," Crystal apologized again and tried to wipe her eyes, she wished she wasn't crying right now, "Let me get-"

"I got it," John cut her off and levitated the plates back onto the counter, "Wizard, remember?"

_Can you do nothing right?!_ Bob's voice ranted at her, _Of course he's suicidal when he bloody has to do everything for you because you're such a lazy slut!_

"Just because you're a wizard, it doesn't mean that you should have to do everything," Crystal blurted out fearfully and he gave her an odd look, "Relax, let me do stuff. Do things that make you happy, just focus only on things that make you happy. Anything that doesn't, its gone, if we annoy then we're gone. You've done more than enough for us already and you've only just got better and if you need anything just let me help you because I'll do it, I'll do anything-"

"Michael told you, didn't he?" John interrupted and Crystal averted her eyes before his cerulean ones could catch hers, "Look, I'm not going to kill myself."

"You're not?" Crystal wondered and looked back to him hopefully, he tensed.

"I said I'd help you and I will, until the Shadows are gone or one of us dead I will."

"And what about after that?"

"After that it doesn't matter, does it?" John countered as she caught his eyes.

"Yes it does. I... I care about and I don't want you to die, and I don't want you to _want_ to die either," Crystal said carefully and John averted his eyes uncomfortably, she fidgeted awkwardly and noticed his hand was still touching hers at the same time he did. They both jolted apart in alarm as if burned, "I-Y-You're a good person and you shouldn't… You deserve to be happy and you can't… you can't do that if you're dead."

"I'm not a good person, I was a Death-"

"The Death Eaters are gone, John," Crystal interrupted more forcefully then she'd meant to and he glanced back to her, "And I'm not talking about who you _were_, I'm talking about who you _are_."

"I've said all I wanted to say on the matter. Goodnight, Crystal," John offered and promptly walked away.

_Great job failing at helping him you pathetic excuse for a person, _Bob's voice spat inside her mind, _You're the worst. If anyone should kill themselves its you, it'd be a blessing to everyone if they didn't have to put up with you anymore because you're the worst_

* * *

_"I hate to say this, mate but I feel like you're settling," one of Pegasus' friends was complaining as they lounged around drinking Firewhisky for his bachelor party, Carver was responsible for refilling their glasses, "An ugly old broad with a fat kid? I mean come on. You can do better, Peg."_

_"I know I could do better," Pegasus insisted with a smirk twisting his face, "But you see ugly old broads with fat kids are more desperate, they'll do anything for you. Like watch this- Hey Pig-fat! Get over here."_

_"What?" Carver questioned testily as he strode back over, Pegasus handed him his half-empty glass._

_"Go put that over on the bookcase," Pegasus commanded and gestured for him to hurry before increasing his volume, "Oh Mary! I need you!"_

_Carver heaved a sigh as he put the glass onto the bookcase as told, it was easier to just not fight him. You could try but he'd find fault with it anyway. There was a loud thundering of footsteps and a second later his mum burst into the room, a saccharine smile on her face as she saw her fiancé, Carver rolled his eyes while she stroked her hair._

_"Yes, baby?" his mum – who evidently still was allowing him to call her by the wrong name – questioned._

_"Your son took my drink and put it up there on the bookcase," Pegasus informed her, "It's rather inconvenient, do you think you could fetch it for me?"_

_"Of course-"_

_"No," Pegasus cut her off when she made to walk over, "I'd like you to levitate it over magically, this is my bachelor party and I want to keep it classy."_

_"But I'm not very good at levitation."_

_"Don't you love me?" Pegasus asked, feigning hurt and causing his mum to look upset._

_"I love you! I love you more than anything!"_

_"If you really loved me then you'd just be good at levitation and do it."_

_"O-Okay, I'll do it," his mum agreed desperately as she whipped out her wand hastily and Carver pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, what was wrong with her? He only looked up when he heard shattering glass, seeing she'd apparently screwed up the spell and dropped the glass, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, I'm so sor-"_

_"What are you waiting for, Mary?" Pegasus questioned of her irritably, "Clean it up!"_

_"Yes! Yes! Of course, Pegasus, I'll just get my wand!" his mum burst out and rushed off with her wand still in hand, the men watched her leave before erupting into laughter._

_"You sure have found a crazy one!" one of his friends laughed._

_"Hey Blobbo, get me another glass and pour some more," Pegasus commanded of Carver and Carver threw him a dark look but did as told, his future stepfather lowered his voice, "And don't worry, I'll remember to punish you later for putting my glass on the bookcase."_

_"But you told me to-" Carver started to insist uselessly as Pegasus had already made up his mind on how events had transpired._

_"Maybe you should cut her some slack though, you are marrying that girl," one of the other soberer ones said, cutting him off as he hadn't heard their hushed conversation._

_"I forgot I already have it!" his mum exclaimed as she rushed back in, Pegasus shook his head at her before standing and withdrawing his and used a cleaning spell to quickly clean up the spilled Firewhiskey._

_"There, I cleaned that up for you even though you caused it," Pegasus told her as he approached, cupping her face in his hands, "Because I love you, because I'm a good fiancé. And don't you ever forget it."_

_"I know, Pegasus, you're the best. I won't forget."_

* * *

Scorpius was thrown back into the grind of Hogwarts quickly enough, the only difference was Maurice was now no longer speaking to him. His streak of failure also continued as the first apparation lesson back he continued to flunk at despite the fact most people were succeeding, he couldn't even sign up for the extra apparation classes because of his August birthday. He felt like he hadn't accomplished anything lately, Antonius was still missing, Calderon was still a prisoner, Leebin was insane, Louis was dead and Scorpius failed at everything. The Shadows launched their next attack on Japan during the next week, another country he suspected soon would bite the dust.

He was feeling incredibly frustrated about it all, he wasn't even the best in his spellwork classes anymore because now Maurice was in their year who just surpassed everyone. Although Maurice was struggling in other classes for the first time, being one handed for wandwork was fine - you only used one anyway – but others were more hands on at least in the practical aspects and he either needed help – which he refused – or just had to watch and hope for written work. Scorpius didn't think it contributed well to the deaf boy's poor mood lately and short temper, he knew he should feel more sympathetic but he wasn't in the mood for it. He also had other thoughts creeping in like what Molly had said before, like Martha being relevant to the next Hogsmeade trip. He should probably try talk to her at some point but he hadn't seen her around much, she was probably grieving for Carver even though he was a jerk.

To distract himself from it all, Scorpius found he was rather preoccupied with Quidditch. Being in the air was the only time he could truly clear his mind and obsessively focusing on the best way to train his team did keep his thoughts on something other than his utter failure at helping anyone in the world that he cared about. The next week was the second to last apparation lesson, Scorpius was one of the pitifully few who had yet to succeed. Of his friends, only Abby had also yet to apparate after that class. If Scorpius didn't succeed at it in the final class then he wouldn't be able to take the apparation test and would have to take the classes again next year, he couldn't imagine that happening though surely not _him_. He was good at magic, he was good at non-verbal magic. He didn't struggle with schoolwork.

"Just relax, Scor, you're stressing yourself out," Albus offered as they went in for their final apparation lesson.

"What do you know about it?" Scorpius scoffed irritably as he paced anxiously.

"I know how to apparate," Albus countered and Scorpius buried his face in his hands, Albus clapped him on the back comfortingly though, "Come on, mate, you'll get it. Just stop getting yourself so worked up."

"Okay, I got it," Scorpius said with a nod as he looked up, taking a deep breath to try calm himself.

And Scorpius focused on his last apparation lesson, willing himself into the hoop until he was sure his face was red while all around him the frustrating popping of his classmates could be heard like a fireworks display. He tried to block it out though, he tried. He cleared his mind, he turned on the spot and finally heard a loud crack exceptionally close to him. Had… Had he done it? Did apparation feel different when you did it yourself? Scorpius opened his eyes and saw his area was still marked on the ground in front of him.

"I did it!" Abby burst out happily and Scorpius shifted his eyes to her where she'd apparated beside him, "I did it! For the first time, I did it!"

"Well done," Scorpius offered through gritted teeth as he forced a smile, he was glad for her really but just… why wasn't _he_ also succeeding at that? For the rest of the class Abby – and everyone – seemed to continue to improve while he… he did not.

"I notice you haven't managed to apparate," a woman's voice stated icily and Scorpius turned to see Cistro the Auror come apparation teacher had approached him, a seemingly permanent scowl of disapproval etched into her face or at least when looking at him, "Not once over the whole twelve week course. Had you realized that, Malfoy?"

"I realized."

"You're the only one in the class who hasn't. Did you know that?"

"I'll get it, okay?" Scorpius insisted testily while the bell went to signal the end of the session, a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"I don't think so because that means the course has ended," Cistro pointed out smugly, "Better luck next year, Malfoy."

"I failed," Scorpius admitted as everyone else started filing out of the Great Hall, hanging his head in shame.

"It's not the end of the world," Michael offered gently and patted him on the shoulder, he was worn out from the full moon coming tomorrow. Yet he'd_ still_ managed to apparate, "So what you have to do it next year?"

"So what?!" Scorpius spluttered out as he turned on him in astonishment and anger, "Maybe you just don't understand because you're a muggle-born but in wizarding society _everyone_ learns to apparate in their _Sixth_ Year!"

"You can't be good at everything, Scorpius, there's going to be some things everyone struggles with."

"I didn't struggle with it, I failed! I failed completely! There's a difference! The difference is I'm a failure!" Scorpius yelled in frustration.

"What would you say if I failed and had to take the classes again next year?" Michael wondered, his eyebrow rising curiously.

"Well that's different," Scorpius scoffed, not seeing how it was relevant.

"Why? Why is it different? Because it's _you_? Because you think you're better than everyone else?"

"I don't think I'm better than everyone else!" Scorpius insisted defensively and unhappily, "I just _know_ I'm good at magic, I know I should be able to do this but I can't! I'm a pureblood, I'm a Malfoy, to flunk apparation is… is _shameful_."

* * *

_Pegasus and Maeghan – Carver didn't care what that jerk said, that was her true name and it was wrong and insulting of him to manipulate her into not using it – were married that November because Pegasus wanted there to be white wedding in a white wonderland of snow. Carver hated it, he hated the wedding, he hated the people at the wedding but most of all he hated the person she was marrying. He thought literally anyone would be better than Pegasus, Pegasus didn't want a woman to love, he wanted a woman to control and unfortunately the person dumb and desperate enough to fall for his crap happened to be his mother. _

_The only bright side really was that they went away on their honeymoon so Carver got to stay with his dad, his thousand siblings. Well six but it felt more like a thousand and predictably they were no fun; the teenage Stephan no longer had time for child things and just talked about girls or soldier stuff, Viola was still a whiny brat who demanded all of her father's attention, Martha and Andreas were boring toddlers excited over nothing and Davin was just a baby. At least there was the rather dispirited Ethan, someone who he could finally confide in about Pegasus._

_"That's awful," Ethan offered sympathetically, "Have you tried telling Dad?"_

_"What do you think?" Carver scoffed and Ethan sighed in understanding, "He reads mind but he'd never think to read ours."_

_"Well look on the bright side, least you're not here learning to be a solider, to kill, to hurt, tortured to learn to resist it. Least you don't have that," Ethan said sadly before trying to smile, "But hey, this time next year we'll both be in Hogwarts and away from all of this and all of that. We'll be okay then, we'll all be okay then."_

_"I hadn't thought of that," Carver admitted before smiling fondly at the thought, "I can't wait."_

_Knowledge of going to Hogwarts put him in better spirits when he had to return to Pegasus and his mum, he endured Pegasus' twisted mind games and cruelty as he clung to the hopeful thought of attending Hogwarts. For once Pegasus was actually in agreement, seeing him going to Hogwarts as the proper thing. Carver found he started to feel increasingly guilty though about having to leave his mum, sure they didn't get along but Pegasus still treated her like garbage which she didn't deserve and he hated it. He was so good at manipulating her, right now he was badgering her to have more children. Why did people want children? It continued to seem pointless to him and he kind of agreed with his mum._

_"But I don't want more kids, Pegasus," his mum said one of the days, looking at her new husband pleadingly, "It's horrible being pregnant, it's painful giving birth and babies are awful. I'm telling you, having children is the worst."_

_"Of course you would say that, Mary," Pegasus shot out, "But you have a child already, you have a legacy but I don't. I'm the last male of my bloodline, if I die my family is wiped out, my bloodline dies forever. Is that what you want, Mary? For my bloodline to die out?"_

_"Of course not but-"_

_"But nothing, Mary!" Pegasus yelled at her and she eyed the ground uncomfortably, Carver hated him, "I love you despite your impurity, your flaws, I love you. Does that mean nothing to you? Don't you love me?!"_

_"I do!"_

_"If you loved me then you'd have a child with me, Mary!"_

_"Leave her alone!" Carver snapped before he could stop himself, abandoning his breakfast to come to his mum's aid, "She doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do! And all this crap about love, if you really loved Maeghan – yes that is her name, not Mary! – then you'd take what she wants into account too not twist everything to get your way, you selfish prick!"_

_Smack! Pegasus smacked him across the face hard._

_"Insolent, ungrateful brat! How dare you speak to me like that!?" Pegasus raged and struck him again, "And Mary, you allow your bastard son to behave this way?! I put up with all this because I love you and you won't even have one child for me to stop my bloodline dying out, it's like you want me to leave you!"_

_"No! Don't leave, Pegasus, don't leave!" his mum burst into tears, why did she have to love this guy? "CARVER, STOP DRIVING MY HUSBAND AWAY FROM ME!"_

_"Why don't you just think about what you really want in life, Mary, to be alone with your fat lump of a son or a man who loves you but wants a baby," Pegasus said before grabbing Carver's arm, "And you, boy, you are going to get it!"_

* * *

Atticus Ashain paced anxiously, glancing with raw eyes at the clock when he passed it at every turn as if somehow expecting it to have magically moved ahead by more than eight measly seconds at a time. After weeks of trying to speak to Brutus it was finally time. Almost. If only time would move faster. He kept pacing though, the jostling movement was helping to stave off the sleep stabbing at his heels. He was exhausted yet every time he closed his eyes to sleep his mind came alive with anxiety, scenarios and worries for his son would start to crawl around inside his skull and he couldn't get their claws out.

"Daddy, I did my work," Cassia offered pulling him from his thoughts, he glanced to his daughter who stood in the doorway holding up the parchment in one hand.

"You did?" Atticus wondered in surprise, still not used to his daughter doing the work he set her when he asked instead of doing everything in the world first and even then he still had to nag her, "Usually only Antonius gets it done so quickly."

"I know, Daddy, I know my own brother," Cassia insisted as she handed it to him but his mind had already latched onto the first part of her sentence, "But I can do my own work too."

"You know your brother? Like what?" Atticus questioned curiously, his eyes flicking over the page disinterestedly before resting back on his daughter. He didn't know why it hadn't occurred to him before, there were things he and Brutus didn't tell their father so wasn't it entirely possible his own children had a similar dynamic? "Anything he doesn't tell me?"

"Erm…" Cassia mused thoughtfully, "His favorite color is purple but he's afraid people will think it's girly so he pretends not to have one."

"Anything else?" Atticus pushed and lowered the parchment, his daughter twitched, "And remember that he's missing and if you now something – _anything_ – you think could possibly be important is worth mentioning because the more I know the more chance I have of saving his life."

"Like what?"

"I don't know… If I had a wand somehow," Atticus prompted and their identical eyes met, he saw the understanding in her eyes before she even opened her mouth.

"He had a wand somehow," Cassia admitted and he had to try very hard not to yell.

"Where did he get a wand?!"

"Well do you know about the Scepter?"

"The Scepter? Herpo's Scepter? The one the Shadow Master is using right now to destroy the world?"

"Yes, that one," Cassia nodded in acknowledgement, "And you know how Ashylos used part of it as a wand that he hid in the mansion place that was where Antonius and Scorpius fought for the Scepter?"

"I'm aware."

"The wand part chose Antonius and he managed to hold onto it so the Shadow Master left without it and everybody thinks it was destroyed but he has it," Cassia explained and Atticus pinched the bridge of his nose, "Please don't tell anyone, Daddy, if the Shadows find out it wasn't destroyed they might try to steal it."

"Cassia! Antonius is missing, you don't think_ this_ could be the reason?!" Atticus couldn't help but snap at his child.

"No. If they wanted the wand then why did they take him?" Cassia countered, sounding quite confident in her reasoning.

"I don't know!" Atticus protested and threw up his arms in exasperation, "But I do know it's could be relevant and you should have told me! This is important, Cassia, magic is not a toy! I can't believe he has had a wand for over a year – a wand that come from the _Shadow Master's Scepter _of all places! - and neither of you thought to tell me!"

"Well we thought you might take it away," Cassia said quietly, "Plus it's supposed to be a secret."

"Damn straight I'd take it away! Maybe then this wouldn't have happened!" Atticus yelled at her and she hung her head.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Cassia apologized, "I just tried to do what I thought was right like you taught us."

"I didn't teach you to keep secrets from family members!"

"What about keeping magic a secret from Skye?" Cassia wondered as she looked back up to him, he tried to flush with embarrassment.

"And you saw how well that went!"

"Why are you yelling, Daddy?"

"I'm not!" Atticus yelled irrationally and tried to strangle his anger, it wasn't helpful and he didn't have time for this, "I have to go now, I'll be back soon."

"Bye," Cassia said disheartenedly and he sighed heavily before giving her a quick hug.

"I'm still mad but you're still my daughter, we'll talk more about this when I get back. Unless you have any other secret bombshells you'd like to share with me?" Atticus inquired but she shook her head, "Bye."

Atticus headed out, having to step over that stupid dog in the process. He found his anger diminishing more with each step he took, he was still mad but it wasn't as important as finding Antonius. He could be mad when his son was safe. This wand thing was looking more and more likely to be the reason he was taken, if they knew what Florian wanted it would be easier to predict his movements and hopefully to get Antonius back. He was somewhat surprised but relieved to not be hassled by Syn on the way out again, the walk to Hogsmeade seemed to get shorter then he just had to apparate to the ruins of his childhood home. Then he could pace some more, pacing is fun.

"Atty?" a familiar voice questioned and Atticus spun to see his brother standing there, he'd acquired a tan but otherwise seemed his regular deformed face

"What took you so damn long?" Atticus barked in frustration instead of the friendly greeting he'd meant to say.

"It's hard to get away, I can't just drop everything or it'd seem suspicious," Brutus protested defensively, "I'm not even in the country right now so it's harder to get here, I came as fast as I could."

"I know," Atticus sighed and rubbed his head tiredly, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I know how rough this must be," Brutus brushed it off with a sympathetic expression, "So what did you find out that's so important?"

"I was talking to Skye about what happened to try find out any new information and she told me Antonius had a wand."

"A wand? Why did you let him have a wand so young?" Brutus wondered in confusion and Atticus waved him to silence impatiently.

"I didn't! That's my point," Atticus insisted and Brutus cocked his head to one side curiously, "I was asking Cassia about it just now before I left and she told me that not only did he have a wand but it came from the Scepter, the Ashylos' wand part of the Scepter."

"That's impossible. I was there, Scorpius cut it in half with the sword of Gryffindor so its broken," Brutus recalled immediately, "We went back to search the rubble for it but it was lost, even if they saved the pieces it should be unusable."

"Well I don't know what to tell you, Cassia seemed quite certain. Someone must've repaired it for him, I didn't think to ask."

"If that _is_ true then it could be why Florian was after him," Brutus admitted slowly as the realization seemed to dawn on him.

"I know!" Atticus snapped without meaning to again, he was so frazzled lately, "But I am confused why _Florian_ took him, I'd have thought you people would be the ones after the wand. What use is it to him?"

"Well scepters are a bit different to wands, this one is made up of two what we'd class at as wands plus the orb _but_ the three are still linked magically even though she replaced the wand…" Brutus mused aloud, starting to look worried, "Florian may be able to use it to get the Scepter off her except he couldn't just use it, unless it chose him then the connection wouldn't be strong enough to trump Sal's blood connection."

"But if the wand chose Antonius like Cassia says…"

"Florian could mean to use him to get the Scepter."

"That's insane!" Atticus spluttered out in disbelief, "He's a child, how does he expect him to stand against such a powerful witch?!"

"Well Florian _is_ insane," Brutus offered unhelpfully earning himself a scowl, "That might be why he was trying to have the kids with the scarred wrists kill though, try to make sure she's at her weakest. I don't think it would be enough though. On the bright side, if he does plan on doing this he'll have to keep Antonius alive until then so we still have a chance of saving him."

"He's keeping him alive just to throw him to the Shadow Master! That's hardly guaranteeing his safety."

"It could be worse though," Brutus said with a shrug and scratched his chin, "And better yet, if Antonius has to face her then we'll know _where _he'll be."

"I can't imagine it would be easy to get Antonius to… Japan is it that you're destroying right-" Atticus started to say but trailed off as something else occurred to him as Brutus averted his eyes, "Or he's just going to go after the Shadow Master when she's next in England which you happen to know."

"I… might."

"When?" Atticus pressed determinedly and Brutus shifted uncomfortably, "_When_, Brutus?! I have to know, my son's life depends on it!"

"If I tell you, you have to _swear_ not to tell another soul. Do you understand?" Brutus said seriously as their identical eyes met, "No warning the Aurors, no warning Gray, no warning _anyone_ at all."

"You can't just expect me to stand idly by and do nothing when I know my country is going to be attacked next! People's lives are at stake, innocent kids, my own-"

"We're not starting with Hogwarts if that's any consolation," Brutus interrupted to which Atticus did feel a flicker of relief.

"Well a little but it doesn't change anything!" Atticus insisted, "I'm an Auror, I can't just do nothing."

"Then I can't tell you and you're going to have to trust me to save your son," Brutus said firmly and crossed his arms, Atticus scowled in frustration, "Think about it, Atty, it's better for Antonius to say nothing. If you tell then the Ministry will need to make major preparations, even if by some incredibly unlikely twist of fate our spies don't know you've told then they will notice the preparations and figure it out. If she knows they're prepared she'll cancel her plans to attack, go after several more countries and it could be a year before we go after England again. That's even longer without your son or if Florian does decide to come after her instead then we have no way of knowing when that is so it'll be harder to plan to save him."

"I hate it when you're right," Atticus grumbled and muttered a few choice curses under his breath, he'd have to do it though. He wasn't like his mother, he had to save his child.

"I knew it!" an unwelcome female voice shrieked and they both spun in surprise to see Syn.

Both Ashains went to draw their wands but she'd already fired two Disarming Charms at each of them before they'd finished turning, their wands were torn from their hands the second they were drawn. Brutus raised his hand out to his wand as if to summon it back to his hand but Syn flicked her wand and an auto-injecting syringe shot out from the rubble to stab Brutus in the arm. He ripped it off and wrenched it away in panic but not before it had already deposited its contents into his flesh, he staggered back and Atticus' heart lurched in fear for his brother.

"Magic Repressing potion to counteract your little wandless tricks," Syn explained, eyes and wand flicking between the both of them as a triumphant smile snuck onto her face, "I _knew _it, Atty, I always knew you were in league with your brother. I knew you were sneaking out for no good, to meet him and look what I find when I follow you? They laughed, they called me paranoid but dammit, I was _right!_ "

"Syn, please," Atticus pleaded, if Brutus was captured his plans for saving Antonius were ruined and… well, he found himself rather opposed to his brother being taken anyway, "It's not what you think."

"Yes, yes it is!" Syn insisted forcefully, she never had been one to listen to reason and seemed more beyond it then usual now she'd caught them, "And that's Lead Auror Cistro to you! You're both under arrest, you'll both rot in New Azkaban prison for this I swear. Both of you lie down on the ground on your stomachs, hands behind your back to be bound. If you do not comply or struggle in any way then I _will_ very gladly exercise my right as an Auror of the Ministry to use the Unforgivable Curses and deadly force."

"No," Atticus whined hopelessly but she brandished her wand threateningly.

He exchanged a defeated look with Brutus who looked unsteady on his feet anyway before they both started to comply, Atticus' heart screaming in his mind. This was it, this was over. Antonius was doomed without them of course and Cassia, what would happen to Cassia? But what could he- And then he noticed Brutus' wand as he lay down.

When he'd been disarmed, his own wand had flown well away but Brutus' had been thrown near to Atticus himself. But what should he do? Even if he grabbed it and stunned her, there was no way she'd stay quiet. Memory charms could be broken, Aurors were checked regularly now with the paranoid fear of spies and she wouldn't be convinced.

Atticus felt a sickeningly cold feeling sweep through him but he had to, he had to for his son. Without further thought, he lunged for the wand and thanked Ashylos for his incredibly reflexes as he jumped to his feet in one smooth motion before Syn could relax. She turned her wand back to him but he'd already jabbed his own at her, using a spell she couldn't block.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ Atticus cried and the jet of green burst out, Syn's eyes bulged in surprise. Her shield was shattered and the curse carried on through, striking her in the heart and throwing her corpse back to the ground. She still looked surprised, even in death. He dropped the wand and buried his face in his hands in horror and shock at his own actions, "What have I done?!"

"You did good, Atty," Brutus assured him and heard his brother getting up, a second later feeling a comforting six-fingered hand on his shoulder. He glanced back to his brother and saw the deformed face struggling with surprise and sympathy, "You did what had to be done. And don't worry, I'll take care of this."

"Doesn't make me feel any better," Atticus admitted quietly after a minute and swallowed, "So now will you tell me?"

"A month," Brutus told him with only a hint of hesitance, "If all goes to plan, we come for England in a month."

* * *

**Part 4: **Friends, Family and Broomsticks

* * *

_Xerxes found he couldn't stop Carver from going to Hogwarts though, well he supposed he could if he really wanted to but as much as he disliked Maeghan – who for some inexplicable reason now preferred Mary – he'd rather not have to murder the mother of his child just to get the full custody. There was still time, he'd just have to make sure Carver would be unhurt when they went after Hogwarts. He didn't think that would be too much of a problem, in fact he found the main problem was that it impeded his ability to see his son now that he was stuck in that school and only allowed out for holidays._

_The plans were rolling on though, the metamorphmagi Headmaster was being worked to be manipulated into their plan before being taken over completely since his condition made it easier to hide possession. It seemed a year of unhappiness though, Ethan had wanted to go to Hogwarts and was gloomy – despite Xerxes calmly explaining his rather justifiable reason – plus Pyrrhus was upset about the Shadows making a deal with his filthy muggle family members to keep a boy hostage for an experiment. Xerxes was somewhat skeptical they'd stick to the guidelines but… well, he'd rather just not think about that horrible stuff._

_Davin turned two later that school year and started at the Training Tower, much like Andreas he had to send him back to her at times as if it was a regular school year and she was forever writing to ask how he was and what he was doing. She was so curious. It gave him more free time again now that he didn't have to juggle a baby around, plus he couldn't visit Carver so frequently now. Stephan was a Soul Eater star and was almost of age now, Carver was in Hogwarts and doing mediocre to not be suspicious as Xerxes had told him, Ethan continued to mope, Viola continued to be his perfect little princess, Martha was bright but oddly hesitant, Andreas was more average but upbeat and then Davin was friendly but still a fast learner. _

_To try make up for the fact Martha and Ethan – he also hoped it would cheer the boy up - were hesitant to do soldier, he decided to put his extra time to good use in trying to teach them Occlumency and Legilimency from an early age. He didn't truly expect them to get it so young but hoped it would help when they were old enough. Ethan was getting to the age where the test was possible but his teachers didn't think he could do it because of his refusal to hurt people, Xerxes tried explaining he just had to do it to pass the test then Xerxes could probably arrange for him to not have to after but no, the boy was stubborn._

_He made sure to see Carver over the summer, he was quite intrigued and impressed by how he'd managed to befriend the son of Harry Potter. That year their plan with the Blood Runes to take over the school would be in motion, Xerxes was rather excited that things were gearing up but also nervous and somewhat regretful. If all went to plan, the world would soon be caught up in war and things would change. He hadn't even seen much of the world how it was now, it inspired him to want to try see more of it. Things did not go to plan though, the Shadow Master's plan was thwarted and they were sent into a coma. Xerxes didn't know how long that would last but he had faith it would work out and decided to take the reprieve as an opportunity to see more of the world, spending time in some of the different countries and spicing up his love life with trying to seduce some exotic women. Language mattered little when he could bypass it to dive straight into their minds._

_Not all was well though, Pyrrhus knocked up Alzay after she just had a baby with another man because she was a complete slut. Not that that was a bad thing, the fact she was a cold-hearted bitch who was a terrible mother was the bad thing and why he disliked her as a person. She was still hot though and so he agreed to lie about being the father for sex, a favor couldn't hurt either. He didn't think Pyrrhus would be a good father anyway, the man was insane. Ethan continued to refuse to take the test or hurt anyone, it was causing problems with his teaches and Xerxes didn't know what to do about it._

_"It's done," Stephan told him one of the days in the summer, leaning in the doorway with his arms folded and a confident look on his face._

_"What's done?" Xerxes wondered in confusion._

_"I got Ethan to take the test, he passed," Stephan said casually with a smug shrug, "You're welcome."_

* * *

Unfortunately, their conversation had to come to a close as Michael needed to go to the Hospital Wing to rest because of the full moon tomorrow since he was weakened around it, apparation had really taken it out of him. Scorpius couldn't help but think bitterly to himself that at least it was a sign that Michael had made progress. He walked Michael down to make sure his friend was okay, Hugo was already there in a bed close to the door.

"Hey Michael, Scorpius," Hugo greeted them with a weak smile.

Michael inclined his head in acknowledgement but kept his eyes off the younger boy as he headed over to a bed, the furthest one by the window on the opposite side. It was as if he was trying to be as far away from Hugo as possible, he even turned his head away in shame to face away from Hugo. Marigold went over to get him sorted, the smile slowly slid off of Hugo's face and the boy heaved a sigh.

"Hang in there," Scorpius offered awkwardly, attempting a smile to the Weasley.

"Thanks," Hugo muttered.

Scorpius left them to it uncertainly, feeling kind of bad for Hugo. And Michael. And remembering why he had become an animagus in the first place, sure Marigold being there complicated things since he was a Thestral and they weren't exactly little. Michael insisted Marigold stayed awake all night with them though so it wasn't even like he could sneak in, yet another thing for him to fail at. He hated being such a failure.

The rest of his weekend passed unhappily, he was quite shocked though to learn of Cistro's death. Apparently she'd left early that weekend, complaining of a headache and been attacked by Shadows in her home. She'd been killed, straight up Killing Curse. They suspected it meant bad things for the safety of Hogwarts, the papers blew up with speculation over it being precursor to another Shadow attack since she had been the Lead Auror in charge of protecting Hogwarts. Scorpius wasn't glad she'd died but he wasn't sorry he was out of his way, he also was worried if this did mean a threat for Hogwarts. He hadn't forgotten Molly's episode, was it the aftermath of another Hogwarts attack she'd seen? Except this time Hogwarts had lost? He also recalled what she'd said about Martha, he should probably make an effort to talk to the girl.

He didn't know, when did he ever know? He just struggled on blindly against the Shadows without knowing what he was doing or where he was going, failure after failure. He started his week in dull spirits, feeling both dread and relief whenever a class finished because he simultaneously wanted to have nothing and everything to do. Leaving Study of Ancient Runes that Monday was no different, until he passed Maurice in the corridor. The deaf boy was sitting on a random windowsill with his knees hugged to his chest. Scorpius tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, Maurice's oceans turned to him and he sighed defeatedly before putting his remaining hand to his translator necklace.

"What?" Maurice questioned of his him, his tone still biting but not as dripping in it as usual. Scorpius realized he actually didn't know what he'd been going to say.

"Erm… Shouldn't you be in Potions?" Scorpius wondered.

"I stormed out," Maurice admitted and scowled, "I'm sick of all these stupid actions that require two hands, I just got frustrated and stormed out."

"And stopped here?"

"I realized I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing," Maurice told him and sighed once more, he looked rather pensive, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being mad at you for not telling me about my myriad of half-brothers, I overreacted."

"Oh well, I don't blame you," Scorpius said unsurely, "I probably should have told you. I screwed up. Again."

"I grew up with no one, you know?" Maurice offered, "I grew up alone. I was barely aware I had a family at all, I didn't see them. It was just becoming a soldier, all work. And Pyrrhus… He was my mentor, he cared for me and looked out for me. He was the closest I had to family and now I have all this new family and the first person I ever trusted cut off my hand. It's… It's just a lot, Scorpius, I feel overwhelmed and I shouldn't take it out on you, I shouldn't take it out on anyone. We need to be united now."

"I'm sorry too," Scorpius confirmed and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder, "For not telling you and that you have to go through all this crap."

"Thanks."

* * *

_"He imperised me!" Ethan screamed hysterically, jabbing an accusatory finger at Stephan. His clothes were all filthy and torn, stained with dirt and blood. His red hair was matted with grime and sticking up in every direction, his face stained with tears. In contrast Stephan leaned lazily in the doorway, "He imperised me! He forced me to take the test, he forced me to hurt people, he forced me to kill!"_

_"Oh please, get over yourself," Stephan scoffed unapologetically, "I got you through the test, you got to pass and be done with it without having to do anything. It's the perfect solution."_

_"IT IS NOT!"_

_"Don't be so ungrateful! I saved your ass!"_

_"Both of you calm down," Xerxes interrupted his eldest sons while Ethan choked on a sob, "Steph, it was great of you to try to help but wrong of you to do it against his will. But the important thing to remember is what's done, we should just try to focus on the positives and try to move past it."_

_"But he-" they both started to say in unison._

_"But nothing!" Xerxes snapped, he didn't like it when his children were fighting, "And that's the end of it."_

_Xerxes truly did expect it to be, at least now the pressure was off for the test he hoped Ethan would be able to relax now his classes were more lax as well. He went back to using his free time for traveling while the plans were still on hold because of the coma, Asia, America and Europe especially were good for him. It was in Mexico he met the gorgeous Rosangela Castro, he got far too drunk with her as he was trying out the alcoholic beverages of the country. It was a good thing he had been trying to go back to the same locations to score again with the same women or he wouldn't have noticed Rosangela's baby bump upon his return a few months later. Unlike his previous baby mamas, she didn't want him involved in the child's life. Not unless he married her which he had no intention of doing since he didn't want to give up his love life. And so began the frustrating task of changing her mind, throwing money and attention at her to try convince her that he would be a good father. _

_He should have been paying more attention to the kids he had though as that spring, he was informed of Ethan's suicide attempt. He'd thrown himself off the Training Tower, after surviving he'd tried to kill himself by taking a myriad of potions that shouldn't be mixed from the hospital wing. They'd but him into a sleep while they worked to undo the damage, they didn't know whether or not he'd wake up though. Xerxes sat with him all night and dived into his son's mind as he suspected foul play, it proved to be a rare occasion where he was wrong however as he saw his son's torment and spiraling misery culminating in a desperate desire to die. Xerxes didn't want his son to die._

_"Dad?" Ethan croaked weakly as he came to, Xerxes took his hand gently as he felt a flood of relief to hear the fourteen year old's voice._

_"Why'd you do it?" Xerxes questioned immediately and Ethan's eyes welled up._

_"I don't want to be a soldier or a Soul Eater and since that's all the choice I have in life, I don't want to be in my life anymore."_

_"I don't have to hurt people or kill them for my job, you can still not hurt people and once the war is over and we win the war will be a better place," Xerxes pointed out seriously, "You don't have to die, Ethan."_

_"That doesn't make it okay, Dad," Ethan insisted, "Being indirectly responsible is still being responsible."_

_"No it isn't, that's the dumbest thing I've heard in my life," Xerxes scoffed dismissively, "Ethan you have to get over this, you're my son and I love you and I don't want you to die so you're not allowed to die. Do you understand?"_

_"I wish you could understand," Ethan sighed as he slipped back into sleep._

* * *

At least after that the rift with Maurice seemed to have been repaired, the deaf boy was still rather moody, withdrawn and testy but he was talking to Scorpius again at least. Orous had just quietly accepted the news and hadn't held it against him at least. The rest of his week was rather lousy, mostly because that Saturday was the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin Quidditch match so they were booking the pitch solid so Scorpius could practice with his own team less. It made sense they deserved the priority but when it was how Scorpius took his mind off things, it was frustrating. His whole life was frustrating right now really. He did have plenty of NEWT work to do though, now the rest of the class were catching up on nonverbal magic there seemed to be a lot more written work.

He was at least looking forward to the match despite being worried about the scores since to win the cup he'd have to make sure he scored higher than that in his last match. It was a sunny day that Saturday and they headed to the stands kitted out in Hufflepuff colors, dragging Maurice along with them to support his twin even though he wasn't interested in Quidditch. Albus was no longer supporting the house of his ex-girlfriend, instead he'd gone all out in kitting himself out in the black and yellow of Hufflepuff. He did find himself missing Molly though, she liked Quidditch. It didn't help Abby had brought her boyfriend Sequoia Pentakel – who was receiving dark looks from Albus when he wasn't looking - over to sit with them or that Rose was nestled against her increasingly tall boyfriend Corin comfortably.

"Can I sit with you guys?" Roxy asked randomly.

"Err… Sure but don't you have your own friends?" Rose wondered and Roxy took a seat beside Michael, she looked surprisingly dressed up for a Quidditch match.

"I do but they're kind of… studying or sitting with their dates," Roxy explained before pushing her dark hair back behind her ears and turning to Michael, "So you nervous about your apparation test next week?"

"I can't take it because my birthday's not until the last day of August, I have to wait until the start of next year like Latimer did. It'll just be Albus, Abby and Rose," Michael explained while Scorpius gritted his teeth irritably at the reminder of his failure, "Did you get yours?"

"Oh yeah last year, second try. First time I was so nervous I tried the trick of imagining the examiners in their underwear to feel less self-conscious and when I apparated I realized that I'd splinched my skirt so I was just in my underwear, I had to do it a second time and this time I was in such a rush to get away to escape my embarrassment I just did it first time," Roxy blurted out before seeming to regret it as she blushed, turning away awkwardly and her voice dropped drastically in volume, "But um… I… um… I'm sure all five of you will do great."

"Actually it's just four," Scorpius stated bitterly, "I can't apparate."

"Good one, as if _you _of all people would fail to apparate. Everyone gets it," Roxy laughed while Scorpius felt his face reddening, she stopped laughing and looked shocked, "Wait, you're serious? Scor, I'm so sorry. I'm sure lots of people don't-"

"Please just _don't_," Scorpius cut her off through gritted teeth, Roxy gave him an apologetic smile and twiddled her thumbs nervously.

"Look its starting!" Corin pointed out of the pitch and started to cheer as Hufflepuff came on.

"WHOO! GO HUFFLEPUFFS!" Albus cried enthusiastically as he jumped up.

"You've certainly changed your tune," Sequoia laughed, "Weren't you all for Slytherin last time?"

"Well Grozda dumped me so Slytherins can go suck it, Sequoia!" Albus snapped at him as he sat back down and folded his arms in a huff while the Captains shook hands, Sequoia looked taken aback, "I'm supporting my cousin and my friend's house."

"Sorry."

They refocused their attention on the game as the Quaffle was released and the game began, Slytherin swiped it first – specifically Grozda – and tore over to try get in that first goal but Vern got in place faster and blocked it. As much as he wanted Hufflepuff to win, Scorpius rather guiltily felt as if Slytherin were more likely to be the victors. He was surprised by how well they were doing, Slytherin did have overall better Chasers who were organized and fast but Vern was on fire. He defended the hoops as if his life depended on it, he fought tenaciously at keeping the Quaffle away.

Slytherin tried to score more often then as they had more possession but they also failed to score more often thanks to Vern as Keeper, the Hufflepuff Chasers and the Slytherin Keeper were both worse off than the opposing team. The Chasers seemed to outdo the Keeper though as they were getting goals in, Grozda set one of the Beaters on helping defend the hoops when it became apparent they were getting more in as the score lay at 20-50 to Hufflepuff in the first half hour. It proved to be a good move though as it stemmed the flow of Hufflepuff goals, by the second half hour it had evened out to 60-60.

The Snitch had been spotted a few times but Orous seemed to have told a Beater to stay on it as Lorcan was good, he was quickly repelled by Bludgers whenever the Slytherin saw it. Whenever Orous saw it, Lorcan wasn't far behind and ended up being accidentally thrown off as a side effect of the same Bludgers driving Lorcan away. Until finally Lorcan dropped into a dive, Orous a second later - looking to have seen it himself rather than just following Lorcan – from his own position. The Hufflepuff Beaters both swung Bludgers on at Lorcan, the Slytherin Beater not focused on helping the Keeper batted one back in his defense but not the second since he wasn't near it.

Lorcan swerved to avoid it and Orous had to duck now it was approaching him when Lorcan moved, almost the exact same thing had happened three times prior. Except this time, Lorcan swung his broom back on track while Orous looked up and still seemed on it. They both shot towards the Snitch, closer and closer. Lorcan was faster but Orous had longer arms and- Orous swiped it out of the air before Lorcan could touch it.

"And Hufflepuff wins! 230-70!" the female commentator cried excitedly as most of the crowd roared in delight, Scorpius and his friends amongst them.

* * *

_Despite what Xerxes had said, Ethan still wanted to die. Nothing he said helped and trying to get him back into the usual Training Tower routine didn't help – in fact it seemed to make worse - either, he was a miserable increasingly unstable wreck determined to die. Xerxes was eventually forced to just have Ethan confined to a room enchanted to death to ensure he'd be alright left alone, Xerxes tried to make sure he wasn't alone though. He made a rule about his kids – those in the Training Tower anyway - having to visit him at least once a day, maybe he could guilt Ethan into wanting to live since he cared for his siblings. The Shadow Master was revived as he'd expected but the bad news kept on coming aside from that, apparently it had been a bad idea to knock up a reporter. _

_"You're a Shadow, aren't you?" Alayna confronted him that summer when he went to drop off Davin._

_"I don't know what you're talking about," Xerxes lied immediately while his mind flooded with panic._

_He quickly filtered through her mind and found she had been investigating the revival incident, as part of that she'd learned of Alzay's deaf son. He hadn't exactly been there exactly but he had been in the professor's room, drawn by the same voodoo Specter pull as the Malfoy kid and Alzay's albino son who had been. She'd heard about the blood quill scars and put it together with Davin's description of others using them, she suspected the Shadows after failing to find a legitimate school that did that._

_"You work at a school that uses blood quills, it doesn't exist," Alayna insisted, "It's not a real school. It's part of the Shadows plans, isn't it? Corrupt young minds? Davin has told me some disturbing things."_

_"That doesn't mean it's the Shadows," Xerxes protested, knowing full well it was hopeless. She had no intention of keeping this to herself, she'd have to die and his son would lose a mother._

_"I'm not stupid, Xerxes, I'm good at putting things together," Alayna said firmly as she folded her arms, unfortunately he could see her mind and it was made up, "The only reason I haven't gone to the Aurors yet is because you're the father of my child and I wanted to give you a chance to come clean, make a deal with the Aurors first so Davin still has a chance of seeing his Daddy. If you don't, I'm contacting them as soon as you leave and I imagine you'd spend the rest of your life in the same small cell."_

_"Go ahead," Xerxes breathed before disapparating unhappily._

_He passed the word along immediately that she was onto them, the passed the word back to him less than half an hour later that she was dead. They retrieved Davin for him too, his son cried for hours in his arms over his dead mother. Xerxes felt terrible, for Davin, for Ethan but it wasn't his fault things had to be that way. He hadn't felt so low in a long time and all the women in the world couldn't snap him out of it, except for one. He'd have thought ignoring Rosangela due to all that was going on the past few months with his other kids had hindered his chances to meet his child, he only went to see her when he realized the due date had come. She was in hospital and had just had his baby, the child was in a different room though. He was too miserable to think of a convincing lie so he just told her about Ethan's suicide attempt and Davin's mother dying, just keeping out of the specifics._

_"You know, Xerxes, I change my mind," Rosangela told him in her broken English, touching his hand comfortingly. Idly he wondered if she could sleep with him so soon after having the baby, "You do clearly have the care of yours children in the heart. I will have allowed for you to be the part of our daughter's life."_

_"It was a girl?" Xerxes wondered and she smiled, jerking her head to the doorway as a nurse wheeled in a crib carrying a small red haired Latina baby._

_"Her name Rocio Carla Castro, you can choose for an extra middle name for her since you are the father of Rocio," Rosangela said as Xerxes happily picked up his new baby girl and cradled her close, he smiled for what felt like the first time in months. _

* * *

Now the game was over, Scorpius could throw himself back into his Quidditch practices. Although now he was more nervous than before, Hufflepuff winning had put them into first place and gave them a shot at the cup. Scorpius would have to beat that to win himself, he was nervous both about failing and being able to as well as about hurting his friends' spirits by beating them. He was glad for Orous and Vern, he really was but… Well, he still wanted to win, he _needed_ a win. He wanted to succeed at something, anything right now since he was failing so completely at everything else in the world except his classes. He was doing well still in his classes as usual.

"Okay," Albus said one of the days when they were in their dormitory, Reuben Tear and Angelo Jordan were sleeping while they finished up an essay for Grant. He rolled off his bed, "There's something I really want to talk to you guys about that I've been wrestling with for a while."

"Please tell me you didn't nap instead of finishing that essay," Scorpius complained at him as Albus came over and sat on his bed so it was easier to speak to him and Michael.

"No, it's not about that," Albus shook his head, glancing briefly at the others as if to make sure they were asleep while Michael turned around over the edge of his own bed to face them, "I think I'm in love with Abby."

"What?"

"A few months ago Vern… _suggested_ that I was so bothered by Pentakel dating Abby is not because he's a complete jackass-"

"He's not."

"-and I'm just looking out for her but because I liked her. Romantically. At first I thought he was nuts but I've been thinking about it, like a _lot_ but the more I think about it… The more I realized he's right. She's my best friend and I'm in love with her. Except she's with Pentakel and is oblivious to the fact that he's a complete jackass-"

"He's not."

"-and doesn't seem likely to leave him anytime soon so… What do I do?!" Albus concluded looking desperate, Scorpius and Michael exchanged a look of surprise while Scorpius' drew a blank on what to say as Albus' emerald eyes darted between them expectantly.

"Well…erm…"

"There's nothing you can do," Michael told him seriously and sighed while Albus looked taken aback.

"But I love her," Albus whined.

"Albus, no offense but you fall in love like that-" Michael stated and snapped his fingers, "-Abby has a good thing going with Sequoia, he's a good guy-"

"No he's not."

"-And she's happy with him and if you really love her then you'll just let her be happy."

"But-"

"But what, Albus?" Michael cut him off, "What's the alternative? You try to sabotage the relationship of the girl you supposedly love which would hurt her? You make her feel awkward by telling her this and drive her further away from you?"

"What? I… I…" Albus stammered out looking upset, "I don't know, I expected more support. When did you get to be such a cynic on love?"

"I don't know, _maybe_ it's because my dad knocked my mum up when they were teenagers then cheated on her then ditched her when she had cancer or _maybe_ it's because my stepdad was an abusive bastard who beat the crap out of my mother."

"You have some serious issues, mate," Albus pointed out worriedly to which Michael shrugged dismissively, "But still, what should I do? How can I just do nothing when I love her and she's with the wrong guy? What if she likes me too?"

"Well she used to," Scorpius admitted and Albus' head turned back to him so fast he thought he swore he heard a snap while Michael scowled, "She liked you last year, she was going to ask you out before you got with Grozda. I don't know how she feels now."

"She got over him that's how," Michael insisted while Albus' eyes lit up with hope, Scorpius wondered if speaking up had been the right thing to do, "It happens. I got over Rose."

"You did not get over Rose," Albus scoffed, "When you get drunk you blabber about her sometimes and ask about her, you don't do that about anyone else."

"That doesn't mean I like-"

"It does but we're not on you so later," Albus stated dismissively before turning to Scorpius with a look of utter desperation, "So about me and Abby? Do you think she could still like me too? How can I do nothing when she might like me back too?! If there's any chance of my soulmate liking me then I should take it, right? She's _the _One."

"You say that about _every_ girl you have a crush on, you have no right to screw up her relationship for a childish crush," Michael said cynically and Albus turned back to him incredulously. It gave Scorpius a second to try scramble for an answer.

"Mate, seriously you have issues."

"It's true, look at my parents-"

"Michael, not everyone in the world is like your parents!" Albus snapped at him.

"There's a reason teenage relationships aren't taken seriously!" Michael protested determinedly, "Teenagers think like kids in their crushes, the only difference is they're more like adults in their bodies so the consequences are more serious since you can wind up with kids when you're not ready and their kids have crappy lives."

"I repeat: _not everyone in the world is like your parents_!"

"I erm… I don't think that urm… you should tell her," Scorpius offered awkwardly to try calm things down - especially with the other two still sleeping - and Albus looked back to him with an expression of hurt, he held up his hands defensively, "Not because I'm cynical and stuff but… um… well Abby seems happy with him and you just… just have to wait it out, you know? Like I did with Molly. If you really believe she's your soulmate then she'll wind up with you and break up with Sequoia. Eventually. You just have to wait it out. Even if she does like you then telling her that you like her and screwing up her relationship may make her _not_ like you, Abby's a sweet person and she'd really hate being in the middle of something like this. Does… Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Albus nodded and sighed as he rubbed his forehead unhappily, "So I just have to do nothing."

"You're good at doing nothing," Scorpius tried to joke nervously to lighten the mood but Albus scowled at him anyway, he instead patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, "Cheer up, I'm sure it'll… possibly be… alright… at some point."

"Nice pep talk," Albus quipped sarcastically, "I'm glad to know it might possibly be alright at some point."

"You're welcome."


	15. Chapter 15: Picking Our Paths

_**Parts (58-60)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 15  
**

Picking Our Paths

* * *

**Part 1: **Falling Apart

* * *

_Ultimately of course, Pegasus got his way and Carver was informed of his mum's pregnancy before he started Hogwarts. Carver wasn't pleased and when Pegasus wasn't praising her for carrying his precious child, he didn't think she was pleased either. He was really quite dreading it, yet another stupid sibling he was supposed to care about. He was also increasingly nervous about starting Hogwarts unlike his mum and Pegasus, who seemed to be looking quite forward to having him gone._

_And so he found himself nervously shuffling through the crowded platform amidst the other Hogwarts students being dropped off by their parents, his dad hadn't come to see him off so it was just him Pegasus and his mum. He couldn't help but notice that the other families seemed closer than he did, the kids who looked his own age especially were being hugged by crying parents telling them they'd miss them and wishing them luck._

_"Bye Carve, see you at Christmas," his mum said and threw his trunk down at his feet, "Try to learn stuff and not get in trouble."_

_"And try to get Ravenclaw or Slytherin," Pegasus added disinterestedly, "They're the houses for smart people with futures, at least try to prove me wrong about my impression of your mental capacity. Gryffindor is for reckless fools, Hufflepuff is for naïve morons."_

_"I'll try," Carver assured him dully, his stepfather nodded before putting an arm around his mum to start to lead her away without another word, "Don't- Don't I get a hug? Other kids are getting hugged."_

_"MERLIN, CARVER, YOU ARE LIKE THE NEEDIEST KID!" his mum screamed at him in frustration earning some odd looks, she yanked at her hair and burst into tears, "And babies are worse!"_

_Pegasus threw Carver a glare as if he'd committed a crime before grabbing his hysterical wife by the arm and dragging her away from the crowd, muttering angrily about proper behavior in public and embarrassment. _

_Carver sighed heavily and started to drag his trunk onto the train, he didn't see what Pegasus was so upset about. It was his fault his mum was having a baby, if not then she wouldn't have been upset in the first place. And he might've gotten that hug. People didn't seem to care anyway, from the snatches of conversation he heard everyone was more excited to see the famous Harry Potter here dropping off his eldest son for his first year of Hogwarts._

_"It's going to be tough but Teddy and I are trying long distance," a stunningly beautiful blond was saying to a slightly less beautiful blond as they went into a compartment already occupied by presumably their friends, all the girls looking around fifteen or sixteen. A bland looking redhead teen walked on by them._

_Carver tore his eyes away from the beautiful ones as they were gone only to have his attention caught by a dark-skinned boy with bright red dreadlocks instead, he looked about thirteen and was with a stunningly handsome blond boy of the same age who bore enough resemblance to the beautiful to be her brother. They were also with a girl who looked around Carver's age, she bore enough resemblance to the red dreadlocks boy to be his sister. Her skin was a lighter shade though and her hair glistening black, she looked rather nervous and her possible-brother had his arm around her._

_"It's okay to be nervous, Rox, you can sit with us until you make your house and meet some friends," the dreadlocks boy was saying comfortingly as he led her into a compartment before freezing on the spot to ogle a girl of his own age ducking into an apartment, "Is… Is it just me or does Caitlin look different somehow?"_

_"Just you," the blond laughed as he pulled him into the compartment after the younger girl while Carver had to continue his trek in search of a compartment._

_"Stop worrying, Hal, I'm sure the kid will turn up," a teen was saying to his utterly depressed looking friend, "Who cares if you were supposed to watch him?"_

_"Ugh," Carver couldn't help but utter in disgust as he laid eyes on an ugly boy with dirty black hair and a pockmarked face._

_The boy was carrying a sketchbook and glanced at him with a flicker of hurt in his reddish-brown eyes. Carver felt a pang of guilt and made to apologize but the boy had already ducked into a compartment, he would've followed if not for being distracted once more by stuff happening as a dark haired teen knocked some battered textbooks from a scruffy looking younger girl's hands. Carver couldn't help but notice the books poor shabby quality, they were falling apart._

_"What's the matter, Weasley, drop your books?" the boy taunted._

_"I'm not a Weasley, I'm an Avery," the girl snapped defensively as she started scrambling to pick up the books, he noticed she was wearing Slytherin robes._

_"Red hair, hand-me-downs, filthy half-blood… I don't think so."_

_"I'm a Slytherin just like you, Kyle!" _

_"Don't know how you did that but you're still worthless," the boy scoffed and folded his arms triumphantly before catching sight of Carver, "What you looking at, Fatty?"_

_"You're worthless," the girl shot back as she finished picking up the books, recapturing the boy's attention. _

_He withdrew his wand as if intending to hex the girl but quickly hid it back as some older boys dressed in Scarlet robes walked by. One of them very deliberately and very forcefully elbowed her arm, causing her to drop the books once more and the boys laughed._

_"Be careful, Snake, its rough being slimy because it makes things easier to slip out of your grip," another of the boys mocked making them laugh harder as she went to pick the books up again._

_"Snakes aren't even slimy, you idiots," the girl muttered under her breath as she went to pick the books up again while the older boys moved on to accosting her first attacker, she left while they were distracted with him. _

* * *

"So this is it, huh?" the hallucination of his dead brother questioned of him.

"Go away," Pyrrhus Florian whined at him

He went back to trying to focus on driving the car and not on looking at his brother in the passenger seat beside him. It was only a couple of weeks before the Shadow Master was due to enter the country, Antonius seemed to have been making much more progress after learning he no longer planned to kill his friends but they still needed to find Calderon. Most importantly to his current destination though, he needed to add magic to Antonius' soul to make him more powerful. It was also sentencing the boy to an early death.

"Its not even just death, little brother," Joel insisted, "You're destroying a ten year old's soul, you sick bastard. You know what it's like to be destroyed, what is wrong with you?"

"It's not the same thing," Pyrrhus snapped at him irritably.

"Destruction is destruction regardless of how the destroying is done, you're just as bad as we were just in a different way."

"Shut up."

"I'm not saying a word, Pyrrhus, you're saying this to yourself," he said and Pyrrhus turned his head in shock to see he was now sitting beside a hallucination of himself.

"Watch the road!" Antonius shrieked from the backseat and Pyrrhus noticed he was drifting off the road, he quickly corrected it.

"N-No problem," Pyrrhus croaked weakly, damn hallucinations were going to get him killed one of these days.

"Are we there yet, Pyrrhus?" another man's voice questioned from the passenger seat. Pyrrhus screeched in shock as he turned to see Jack/One now sitting there, he almost veered the car off the road once more and just pulled over instead. Jack/One laughed, "_You scream like a girl_."

"Don't do that!" Pyrrhus screamed at him hysterically and fidgeted while his heart thundered in his chest, trembling at having almost driven the car off the road twice within a few minutes and risked killing his son. And Antonius. And himself.

"At least then he'd die with his soul whole," Xerxes – or at least his hallucination of him - said, now from outside the window and Pyrrhus jolted in panic again.

"Go away!"

"But you need me here," Jack commented with an amused smirk.

"I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the hallucination of my dead brother!" Pyrrhus barked irritably and rubbed his head, willing them to go away again before glancing around to check where they were. He decided they were close enough, "Okay, I'm going to get in position. I'll send up a jet of red sparks when he's incapacitated as planned then you can phase in with Antonius to… to… you know, do the… thing."

"What about me, Daddy?" Oathan questioned curiously and Pyrrhus glanced into the back seat, seeing his son sleepily rubbing his eyes as it was the early hours of the morning.

"You just wait here and get some sleep. I'll be back soon, okay?" Pyrrhus told him with a comforting smile, Oathan nodded and nestled back into his seat.

"Okay, Daddy."

"Watch for the sparks," Pyrrhus added as a reminder to Jack/One before getting out of the car.

He transformed into a moth and fluttered away towards the house, finding and slipping in through an open window. Then he just had- He landed quickly at the sound of footsteps, surprised to see the target was already up. Alaric Layton look tired, the wake of the full moon taking its toll on the lycanthropic Minister. He was wearing pajamas with the same red robe as the last time Pyrrhus had seen him, walking with a glass of water he'd probably woken to get. Pyrrhus had promised himself Alaric would pay for injuring him before.

He waited until Alaric's back was to him before jumping down, transforming back to a human and whipping out his wand before his feet had touched the floor. He slashed his wand as Alaric started to turn back around with a brutal Acutus Curse at his shoulder, Alaric cried out in pain as he fell back to the ground with his shoulder how bleeding profusely while the arm dangled loosely from the damaged socket.

"That's for hurting_ my_ shoulder!" Pyrrhus screeched at him indignantly.

Alaric tried to draw his wand but injuring his wand arm forced him to have to use the other, thus taking longer which gave Pyrrhus those precious seconds he wanted to stun the Minister. Pyrrhus smirked to the now unconscious man, served him right for attacking him and now he was going to die a horrible death. He waved his wand lazily, transfiguring the stone floor to branch out in several strips over Alaric's body to ensure he was held down and incapacitated. He also took the man's wand for good measure before heading outside to send up sparks.

"_I could've done it faster_," One insisted as he phased out of the shadows with Antonius, Pyrrhus shrugged. He probably could've but Pyrrhus had wanted to be the one to attack him so he could injure his shoulder obviously, just like Alaric had in their last encounter. Doing it when he was already incapacitated would've just seemed petty.

"Of course it seemed petty, you're insane," Xerxes's voice commented and Pyrrhus glanced to see the hallucination leaning lazily in the doorway.

"Just come on, let's get this over with," Pyrrhus said, trying to ignore it as he led the trio inside as Xerxes also followed.

"Who- Who's the guy you're killing?" Antonius asked nervously.

"You," Xerxes pointed out to the oblivious boy and Pyrrhus felt the guilt start to seep through him once more, Xerxes smirked confidently, "You're murdering a child, destroying his soul."

"He's the Minister for Magic," Jack offered in answer to the boy's question as the stopped by the unconscious man, crimson rivers still streaming from his shoulder.

"Is he a Shadow?" Antonius wondered with a flicker of worry on his young face.

"Nope. Just an innocent guy," Jack shrugged it off and withdrew his wand, jabbing it at Alaric, "_Rennervate_."

"What are you doing?!" Antonius hissed in shock as Alaric cringed, groggily coming to.

"_Because we feed off pain and he'll be in more pain if he's conscious while we destroy his soul_."

"What?" Alaric mumbled in confusion, trying to get up and his eyes snapping open wider as he realized he was trapped, "What's happening?"

"That's right, you're going to destroy his soul," Xerxes taunted and Pyrrhus threw him a scowl as he opened his mouth to answer.

"I don't care about Al-"

"I'm talking about Antonius! Who gives a damn about Alaric? Alaric's a man, men are bad."

"Can't you just use someone bad instead?! There's plenty of Shadows!" Antonius burst out desperately to Jack/One, distracting Pyrrhus from his conversation with himself.

"_Nah, we don't want to stir up that hornet's nest_," One brushed it off, seeming amused by Antonius' upset.

"You're the Ashain kid," Alaric realized aloud.

"Thank you, Minister Obvious."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"_Rip the magic out of your soul to give to the kid here to make him more powerful_," One explained casually and to Alaric's credit, he managed to hide his fear quite well, "_You'll die, of course."_

"They'll both die," Xerxes added.

"How is that possible?" Alaric questioned in quiet confused curiosity, discretely testing the strength of his bonds, "Are you the Shadow Master? And what do you possibly expect to gain by adding magic to a ten year old?"

"Exactly, Pyrrhus. Come on."

"_We are better than the Shadow Master, we are One, we are what happens when you merge the Shadow of a Dementor with the soul of a human_," One announced proudly before his expression twisted regretfully, "Jack. My name used to be Jack. And we're doing this to end the war."

"Any last words?" Pyrrhus asked smugly of the Minister who seemed at quite a loss, "You going to cry? Or beg? Or bargain like a pathetic coward?"

"This is a bad idea," Alaric stated, his voice calm despite the fear building in his eyes, "You two strike me as highly unstable, this is only going to end badly."

"Please," Antonius pleaded desperately and even though it was in Alaric's defense, Pyrrhus found it tugging at his heart for Antonius' own life instead, "He's innocent."

"That's right he is, yet you're murdering the child. Destroying his soul," Xerxes said in agreement and Pyrrhus groaned in frustration, he didn't want to listen to him.

"No," Pyrrhus insisted firmly, "We're going through with this and it's going to work and the Shadow Master will die-"

"So will Antonius."

"-And the-"

"Fine! If you don't want to listen to them then listen to me!" Pyrrhus' own voice snapped except younger, he turned in surprise back to Xerxes. Except it was no longer Xerxes but Pyrrhus himself when he was Antonius' age, he looked at him desperately as his younger self took a step towards him, "Please, Pyrrhus, this is wrong. This is wrong on a fundamental level and you know it, despite everything you know it."

"Being wrong doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do!" Pyrrhus insisted to his child self, "I've done plenty of bad things before, this is just another. You just don't understand!"

"You've been a prisoner your whole life, you've been_ trapped_ in your own life. And you did bad things because the Shadows either made you or made you a little insane but this is different," Young-Pyrrhus protested firmly, "For the first time you are free to make your own choices and _this_ is the first thing you go and do? Take a child who's already been through too much and destroy his soul?"

"We have to do it to get rid of the Shadow Master and end the war!"

"And what then? You raise your son and live your life?" Young-Pyrrhus questioned and Pyrrhus himself nodded, although he imagined it would be a little bit more complicated than that, "Is that really what you want though? To build a life on the shattered soul of child as well as your nephew's blood? Is that what you want Oathan to see? You've done bad before but you've never wanted to _be_ bad. Do you want Oathan to go bad?"

"No," Pyrrhus whimpered and shifted uncomfortably.

"Carver didn't want this, _you_ don't want this. Just because your name is Pyrrhus, it doesn't have to mean you walk away with a Pyrrhic victory," his younger self told him pleadingly, "Don't do this. Let Antonius have a life that I couldn't have, do the right thing. Please."

Pyrrhus opened his mouth to protest again but the words died in his throat as his younger self faded away, leaving Antonius – who was behind the hallucination – standing in his place. He swallowed the words, he already knew what he was going to do.

"_Ready to die?"_ One taunted Alaric and raised his hand, the werewolf's eyes widened and Antonius averted his eyes guiltily but neither made a sound.

"Don't," Pyrrhus hissed and Jack/One glanced at him as if not sure if he was talking to him, "And yes, I'm talking to you! Seriously, don't do it. We're not going through with this, we're done with this plan. It's a stupid, insane plan that involves sacrificing a child's soul and we're not going to do it. We'll find another way or another plan or just… something not destroying the kid."

"After everything, _this_ is where you back out?!" a voice he expected to be Jack/One snapped but Pyrrhus was shocked to see Antonius rounding on him instead, the boy actually trembling with anger, "You murder my uncle, you kidnap me, you ally with a soul sucking monster, you cut of my friend's hand and train me up all to then just quit at the last hurdle?! That it was all in vain?! All that crap for nothing?!"

"I'm saving your life. It's the right thing."

"I don't care about my life!" Antonius yelled at him while Jack/One watched them argue in amusement, folding their arms, "I care about ending the war so the people I care about can live their lives! My life is already ruined, my soul is already broken. I don't _care_ about that, I want to try your stupid plan."

"Well I'm sorry, Antonius, but it's my call and I say it's over," Pyrrhus stated firmly and mimed washing his hands of it while the boy's eyes narrowed darkly, "We're done here."

"Oh yeah? Because last I checked you're not the one we need," Antonius scoffed and turned to Jack/One, "Rip the magic out of Florian's soul and add it to mine."

"_What?!"_

Pyrrhus started in shock but Jack/One had already raised his hand to him, a shadowy blade of light streaking out to strike him and sending a sea of unbearable agony. It was the worst pain he'd ever been in. Worse than any physical injury, worse than any spell, worse than the Cruciatus Curse itself. The pain was on a level he couldn't describe, he felt as if he was being torn apart in every way, ripped from his very soul which was true.

In the split second of thought he had before the pain drowned it, he thought of his son. He couldn't leave Oathan all alone, he _had_ to be there to take care of his child. He through his hand out desperately back at Jack/One, thinking only of his love for his young son who needed him and desire to survive to protect him.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ Pyrrhus shouted the words through screams he hadn't realized were leaving his lips.

There was a flash of silver light, he briefly saw it flash as a moth before it hit Jack/One. Then it was Jack/One's time to scream as the Patronus repelled him, breaking the magic-ripping connection. Pyrrhus wasted no time, tearing to his feet on shaking legs while the residual pain continued to savage him. He transformed back into a moth and fled into the night.

* * *

Antonius couldn't believe what had happened, what he'd said. The more he thought about it, the more he thought he was opposed to the plan just because of who had come up with it – and how they went about it certainly didn't help - and now his friends no longer had to die… Well it was worth a shot and it was something his friends wouldn't agree with, they all thought he was just a stupid kid who wasn't capable of anything when he was! He could do things. He was getting better at summoning, he was ready for this and willing to pay the price. He was pretty much dead already.

So when Florian decided against it, he panicked and a dark thought slipped into his mind that solved all his problems. Why not rip the magic from Florian's soul? It spared the innocent Minister and still got him the extra magic, Florian had _thought_ of the plan but he was hardly needed now really. And he was insane. Why not kill the bad guy instead? He'd realized as soon as the words left his lips that it was unlikely Jack/One would comply with him, surprisingly he had though. Until Florian fought back and fled. He hadn't thought evil people were capable of casting a Patronus.

"_Son of a whore_," One spat irritably, shaking himself off and glaring after Florian before turning back to the Minister as they raised their hand to him, "_Well that was fun but I guess you'll still die because now I'm hungry, weak and pissed."_

"No!" Antonius burst out desperately, "Please, can't we just go after Florian or get a Shadow?"

"_No! I need to feed off pain right now this second_."

"Then c-can't you just… just…" Antonius fumbled over his words as he searched his mind for an answer, "Just like… take only part of his magic? Would… Would that let him live?"

"_I have no idea, we've never tried that before_," One pointed out irritably, eying him cautiously while the Minister vainly tried to free his hands still.

"Tr-Try it. If you really have to use him then just try it."

"Fine," Jack agreed testily and turned on the Minister immediately.

"No!" the Minister gasped.

Antonius watched guiltily as the man screamed against a pain that he was familiar with, writhing against the bounds holding him down. In reality it was probably only a few minutes but it felt like hours to Antonius, he felt a lump swelling in his throat and tears pricking his eyes as he recalled when the magic had been ripped from his own soul.

Finally, the Minister's body arched as much as being bound would allow and a sphere of light erupted from his chest. Not quite a sphere, Antonius realized, it was misshapen and twisted. The Minister slumped back against the ground breathing weakly, silent tears streaming from his navy eyes. Antonius wondered if it made a difference it was part magic, did he feel as bad as Antonius had? Would he survive this? Would he even want to survive this?

"I'm sorry," Antonius offered quietly and guiltily to the Minister, if the man heard him then he didn't show it as he neither responded nor turned his head.

"Ready?" Jack questioned and Antonius reluctantly nodded, there was no going back now.

Jack/One then gestured to him and the shadowy light holding the tormented orb like a tractor beam turned to him, the Minister's magic shot towards him. Antonius felt as if he'd been punched in the heart by a lightning bolt as it struck him, he was knocked back to the ground. His body arched and his eyes rolled into his head, he felt shocked as if electricity was tearing though his veins. The sensation faded but he was left with a different one, one of power.

"_Oh crap, I just realized something_," One cursed as Antonius sat up, panting for breathe but the thing was already heading for the door, "Florian has your wand, we'll be back."

* * *

Pyrrhus collapsed into the grass out of the air as the rush of adrenaline was drowned by the residual pain, transforming back into a human just to avoid any wildlife trying to eat him. He tried to apparate but Alaric had spells up against it. He gasped for breath, his body still shuddering uncontrollably from the agonizing attempt on his soul. He knew he had to keep going though, he had to get back to Oathan and get to safety before Jack/One found them. He tried to crawl, tried to force his body to move through the trembling and the pain.

His progress was pitifully unimpressive and slow, it did start to ease though and he managed to force himself to his feet to stagger onwards. He fell back onto the grass once or twice before he was finally able to walk weakly on his still shaking legs, fighting to get back to the car. He collapsed against the side when he reached it, only to see to his horror that Oathan wasn't inside. His heart seemed to stop for an instant, he swore it didn't beat.

"_Looking for this?"_ One taunted and Pyrrhus turned to the left, seeing the man clutching his frightened son, "Give us the wand."

"Give me my son back," Pyrrhus tried to insist but it didn't have the same edge when he was still weak and gasping for breath, One raised their hand and Pyrrhus threw himself behind the car to avoid the soul destroying. He sat against it weakly, he couldn't win against Jack/One in his current state, "And stop trying to destroy my soul!"

"_You're not in any position to be making demands, Pyrrhus_," One said snappishly, "You're weak from your ordeal and in no condition to fight us, _and thus you're left with two choices._ Surrender and give us the wand then we destroy your soul, _or resist and don't give us the wand then we destroy your son's soul and then yours and we'll take the wand off your corpse_. This isn't going to end well for you, the only thing you have left to choose is how it ends for Oathan."

"Daddy, I'm scared!" Oathan cried fearfully.

Tears filled Pyrrhus' eyes, he tried to do the right thing and_ this_ was what happened? He sniffed tearfully, hating every second of this situation. Option A seemed better on the outside but then he'd still be leaving Oathan alone and he had no guarantee they'd actually keep their word, he had no way of knowing if he was dead. Option B was an utter loss. A third option came to mind, he could just apparate away because they were out of the range of Alaric's protection now. He thought he had strength enough for that. That was leaving Oathan though, still it bought him time to recover and find a way to save his son since they couldn't threaten his son if they killed him so they'd have to keep him alive… right? He hated Option C but at least it was his own.

"Well?" Jack demanded, "_Because we're going to start destroying soon_."

"Oathan, you… you know I love you right?" Pyrrhus called back to his son, the tears leaking from his eyes.

"I love you too, Daddy," Oathan's voice called back shakily, he sounded like he was crying.

"Then you just have to trust me now because I have to go but I _promise_ that I'll come back for you, I swear it to you," Pyrrhus said, his voice breaking as he tried not to sob before he disapparated.

* * *

_Carver also used this opportunity to finally slip into an empty compartment, he sighed unhappily as his rear was sore from a thrashing from Pegasus that morning. He was sure his stepfather had done it on purpose as he knew Carver would have to sit for a long train journey and sought to make it as uncomfortable as possible, well he was succeeding. Carver sat in painful boredom, waiting until the train started moving and then waiting some more. He wondered if counting the trees passing by the window would help him get to sleep, that would kill time._

_The compartment door opened suddenly and Carver's attention snapped back to it, seeing a skinny boy his own age standing there. He was handsome, he had short black hair that stuck up chaotically and warm brown eyes, a face full of freckles and… and he had a tentacle for a hand. The boy hastily tried to hide it, looking rather embarrassed._

_"D-Do you mind if I sit here? There's none empty," the boy said nervously._

_"Sure," Carver shrugged and gestured for the boy to sit opposite him, the boy obliged looking relieved. He expected an explanation for the hand, a name, a greeting but the boy just sat there uncomfortably, "So um… Who are you?"_

_"Who am I?" the boy wondered, looking rather surprised, "You don't know?"_

_"Not a clue," Carver admitted and the boy looked rather affronted, "Why? Should I know you?"_

_"Of course you should know me! I'm Ja-" the boy started to say before stopping abruptly, looking rather like an epiphany had just occurred to him, "Yeah, Jay, that's who I am."_

_"Never heard of you, Jay."_

_"Good," Jay muttered irritably as he lounged back lazily in his chair, "Ever since I got on this train everyone just keeps hassling me."_

_"Why?" Carver wondered curiously._

_"Because my dad is only like the mega most amazing famous guy in the wizarding world, everyone keeps asking me about him or stuff in general or wanting me to show them powerful magic or stuff in general."_

_"You're Harry Potter's son, aren't you?" Carver deduced and Jay nodded._

_"James Sirius Potter," the boy admitted and tears started to fill his eyes, "I haven't even started Hogwarts yet and people expect so much from me, I have to live up the Potter name. But I failed, I'm not even in school and this mean Slytherin scumhole turned my hand into a tentacle which feels really weird and gross and ev-everyone l-l-laughed a-a-a-at m-m-eee!"_

_James then broke down crying, burying his face in his hand and… tentacle. Carver felt bad for him, he wasn't sure what to say to comfort him but he thought he could reverse the spell at least. He withdrew his wand for the first time in too long._

_"Conversio," Carver cast and aimed it at James' hand shifted back into a regular human one, the boy stopped crying in shock and glanced up at him with blotchy eyes, "Does that help?"_

_"That helps," James sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve, "What's your name?"_

_"Carver Edwards."_

_"Carver's a cool name. Makes you sound tough," James offered and Carver laughed, blushed and smiled at the same time. _

_"Thanks, no one's ever thought my name was cool before," Carver admitted and James returned his smile weakly before holding out his human again hand to shake which Carver did, "Nice to meet you, Jay."_

_"Nice to meet you."_

_"Anything off the trolley, dears?" a kindly female voice offered as an elderly lady opened the door to the compartment, James wiped his eyes quickly._

_"No, my parents didn't give me any money," Carver turned it down and felt a wave of disappointment, "I didn't even know there would be snacks."_

_"I got you covered, Carve," James said with a confident wink, sounding more sure of himself now as he took out a pocketful of gleaming Galleons that could only make Carver's jaw drop. He never got money, "What would you like?"_

* * *

Scorpius felt a bit strange after Albus' revelation, he wanted his friends to be happy but Abby still seemed to be happy with Sequoia… And he did kind of like Sequoia too. He supposed like Albus he'd just have to wait and see what happened, Albus did seem to have taken his advice. That weekend Albus, Abby and Rose - along with everyone else in the year who'd had their birthday already – took their apparation test and all three passed. He also heard through his Potter/Weasley friends that Freddie and his girlfriend Caitlin had their second baby, it was another girl. They named her Louisa.

Of course for most of that week he just had to focus on training up his team for his Quidditch match that weekend, it didn't help he was battle Sequoia for custody of the pitch. It was his last year, Scorpius thought he was more eager to win then usual to leave with a cup. The day of reckoning finally came, he got an anti-sickness potion from Michael so for once his friend didn't end up losing meals from nerves. He felt nervous himself though, this was his first final match of the year as Captain. He had to not only beat Ravenclaw but make sure they scored enough to beat Hufflepuff for the cup as well, he paced anxiously in the changing rooms and found his team looking at him expectantly. He cleared his throat.

"Alright team, this is the final match of the year, the very final match for some of us," Scorpius began his pep talk and realized he had absolutely no idea what to say so he just rambled awkwardly, "We haven't had the best year. In Quidditch. But neither have Ravenclaw. We've both had some losses and some wins. Sequoia's a talented Seeker with a good team but so are we so we have to play hard but being on the same level means we have a chance of winning if we fight for it. And we want a win, we need a win, so go out there and win."

"Mate," Albus said as he stood to clap him on the shoulder with a sympathetic expression, "You're terrible at giving uplifting speeches."

"Oh shut up," Scorpius complained at him and shrugged off his arm, now feeling annoyed rather than nervous, "Come on people, let's get on the pitch."

They headed out onto the pitch to the cheers of the crowd, still finding it felt rather strange to be the one leading the team. He shook hands with Sequoia and idly wondered if Abby would still cheer for her house over her boyfriend's final match, he shoved that thought aside though because he needed to focus. Sequoia was good and Scorpius needed to win, he wanted to succeed at something this year even if it was just a stupid cup.

The Quaffle was released and the game began. Michael snatched it up in a crimson blur but the Ravenclaw Beaters were ready, they pelted at him with Bludgers and he was forced to drop the Quaffle to avoid it being knocked from his hand. A Ravenclaw Chaser was waiting ready, she caught it and shot back down the pitch to score only to be blocked by the Gryffindor Keeper as Rufus Rhett had managed to get to the rings in time. Scorpius gave him a thumbs up of encouragement and the boy beamed back as the game continued.

Sequoia had been training his team well, the Beaters were precise and on point especially and making his life difficult as a Seeker. Seeing how good they were, Scorpius was actually surprised his Beaters seemed to be holding their own. In fact, Scorpius started to notice his team seemed to be coming out on top. Michael was once again a star, within half an hour they were up 50-10 with four of those goals being from Michael. They were actually managing more or less to keep that margin ahead of Ravenclaw as the match went on.

Scorpius was relieved when he saw a streak of gold while the Ravenclaw Beaters were busy with the Chasers, he dived for it but so did Sequoia. He urged his broom to go faster, willing desperately because he wanted to win but Sequoia was still inching ahead with his faster broom and longer arms. He was going to get it, Scorpius felt his heart sink until- _WHAM!_ A Bludger smashed into Sequoia's outstretched arm head on. There was a horrible breaking sound and Sequoia screamed in pain, he was almost knocked off his broom but Scorpius instincts overtook his logic sense as he grabbed Sequoia to stabilize him.

"Get the Snitch, Scor!" Kemen Arkaitz called desperately, the Beater who'd fired the Bludger.

Scorpius almost did for a second but Sequoia's face had drained of color, for a second Scorpius thought he'd pass out and fall off his broom. He didn't although his one handed grip was shaky, Scorpius cringed to look at the bloody, mangled hand. This wasn't something Sequoia could shake off, he'd need healing attention but still he seemed stable for the minute. He felt bad for Sequoia but… damn, he needed to succeed at something right now. Was it really necessary to guide him to the ground? Surely it wasn't something Sequoia would do for him.

So Scorpius left him to fly back down to the ground by himself to tear after the Snitch, the glimmer of gold. It turned though and in one of the most ironic moments of Scorpius' life, happened to pass right by Sequoia on his way to the ground. Sequoia lunged for it in desperation before Scorpius could reach it, he had to since he only had one hand and couldn't hold on anyway. He caught it but fell the final few feet to the ground, he raised his Snitch hand shakily and the crowd went wild before Sequoia's head lolled and his arm dropped as he seemed to pass out. Scorpius buried his face in his hand.

"And Ravenclaw win thanks to the valiant efforts of Captain Sequoia Pentakel, 240-120, putting them into joint first with Hufflepuff for the House Cup!" the female commentator whose name he didn't know announced happily while Scorpius landed in defeat, feeling worse than ever.

* * *

_Despite the discomfort sitting caused, Carver no longer found himself hating the journey now he was sitting with James. They talked and laughed happily amongst themselves while engorging themselves on the cache of sweets that James had kindly bought for them to share together. Carver was delighted, it was so easy to talk to James and James wasn't being mean to him like the kids from the Training Tower. Of course he did do more listening then talking, James knew lots of things and had plenty to say whereas Carver was sort of afraid to say things. He wasn't supposed to talk about the Training Tower and he didn't want to whine about Pegasus to his potential friend lest he scare him off, he didn't mind listening though._

_In fact, Carver was almost disappointed when the train came to a stop and the pair had to change into their Hogwarts robes. It was bitingly cold outside, Carver thought of using a charm to warm himself up but no one else seemed to be doing it and he wanted to fit in. He also understood what James was talking about before, once in the crowd again he was drawing looks as people pointed and murmured under their breath about the son of Harry Potter. _

_"Wow, the firstborn of Harry Potter," one boy was whispering rather loudly, "Do you reckon he's as amazing as his dad?"_

_"I don't think so," the girl he was talking to scoffed and giggled in amusement, "I heard he had his arm turned into a tentacle, Harry Potter would never have let that happen to him."_

_"Hey!" James snapped irritably at them and waved his hand furiously in their faces, "Look at my hands! What do you notice?! Oh wait, no tentacles!"_

_"I think they get the point," Carver offered and took James' arms, gently guiding the boy away despite the glares he continued to throw the dispersing pair, "Where do we even go nex-"_

_"Firs' Years! Firs' Years over here!" a loud voice seemed to answer Carver's question and he turned, almost starting in shock when he recognized the hulking being as a half-giant._

_"Don't look so afraid, it's just Hagrid," James brushed it off and led him over, calming down after a final dark look in the direction of those kids, "Hey Hagrid!"_

_"'Lo James," the half-giant greeted him friendly and gave the boy a hug, when he pulled back his black eyes were watering and he wiped a tear away, "Yeh know, it felt like jus' yesterday when I was greeting yeh Dad fer his firs' time at Hogwarts too. Great man, yeh Dad."_

_"I know," James said seriously while Hagrid went back to calling for First Years, James tapped Carver on the shoulder and pointed out the boy he'd seen hassling the redheaded girl from before, "That's the boy who jinxed me, scumbag Slytherin."_

_"I think his name's Kyle," Carver offered as he recalled the girl saying as much, he also remembered hurtfully what he'd been called, "He called me Fatty."_

_"That's Slytherins for you, they're the worst. They're evil snake slime, pure evil," James explained to him darkly, "Watch out for anyone named Malfoy especially, a Malfoy was mean to my dad when he was in Hogwarts so you know anyone of that bloodline is going to be bad."_

_"If you say so," Carver shrugged, not wanting to disagree lest James hate him and he lose his potential friend but he wasn't sure he agreed. Plus, his mum had been a Slytherin so they couldn't be all bad. Would James be friends with him if he knew that?_

_"Come on, we're moving."_

_Carver went with James, Hagrid and the swarm of other First Years. Instead of cozy carriages, they went to rickety boats. At least he supposed the walk had given his butt a break from having to be sat on, the hard wooden boat was even more uncomfortable then the train and just when he thought he was used to it. Damn Pegasus. Apart from that the boat trip was rather pleasant, Carver had never been on a boat before – and rather liked the rocking sensation - nor seen the famous castle which was a rather magnificent sight and much more impressive than the ominous Training Tower. They sat with Hagrid who chatted away to James, it seemed the part-giant was a family friend. He was also surprisingly sentimental, Carver had always heard they were monsters like giants themselves._

_They reached the castle and were led inside by yet another person James seemed to know, a man who introduced himself as Professor Longbottom yet expected to still be taken seriously. He explained about the Sorting and Houses, much of which James had already covered. When they finally got to go inside, Carver felt his nerves pricking up as they had to walk through four long full tables of older students already there. Standing waiting for them was a handsome man with a smile on his face and his arms folded, tall and lanky with neat dark black hair, contrasting with his very pale complexion which also made his dark eyes pop. He was dressed in muggle clothes and standing beside a stool with the tattered old hat on it, Carver might have actually thought he was a muggle if not the strange flurry of light dancing around him._

_"Hi!" the man greeted them enthusiastically as he gave them a random sweeping bow, "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the most one, only and very best ever. We hope you'll enjoy your time here but first you need houses. When I call your name just come forwards, we'll drop this old grouch on your head and he'll call your house then just go to the table whooping with delight. So shall we begin?"_

* * *

**Part 2: **Fighting Back

* * *

_The Sorting started, Carver watched nervously as the names were called and they had to go sit before the whole school with the hat. He very much wished he had a last name that was further down the alphabet as all too quickly, the handsome assistant called 'Carver Edwards' to the stool. He approached nervously and the man magically dropped the hat onto his head, his heart was pounding but a second later it shouted:_

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_

_Carver felt a rush of relief for his short Sorting and went over to the cheering table with his new peers, his potential friend James also applauded from the middle of the students. He could only hope James would join him in Gryffindor, despite what Pegasus had said – in fact maybe because of what Pegasus had said – he was happy to get Gryffindor and not one of the houses his horrible stepfather had wanted for him. He waited in boredom as the ceremony was not as interesting now he was done, clapping on cue and listening to his stomach rumbling. Finally after 'Sequoia Pentakel' made Ravenclaw, 'James Potter' was called up. The hat took longer with him, James' freckled face was screwed up in a scowl until finally._

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_

_James looked relieved and quite pleased with himself as he came on over to the Gryffindor table to squeeze in beside Carver, the cheer noticeably louder than it was normally for the son of the famous Harry Potter. The Sorting went on for a bit longer until finally, 'Roxanne Weasley' joined them in Gryffindor and the feast could begin. And what a feast it was, there was far more then they got at the Training Tower and just appeared on the table. Roast beef, chicken, pork and lamb chops, sausages, strips of bacon, thick juicy steak, steak and kidney pie, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, swede then all kinds of potatoes, boiled, roasted, mashed and enough gravy to drown a small cat. _

_Carver dug in hungrily, devouring the delicious meal which he felt was probably a once off treat. It was so much better than his mum's cooking. Because he was busy stuffing his face, he didn't say much but did listen as the other First Years introduced themselves. Most of the attention though was on James, people asking him about his famous father and how much like his father he was, how excited they were to have someone who'd be so obviously talented since he was the eldest son of Harry Potter after all. James kept a smile on his face but Carver thought he spotted a sliver of anxiety in those warm brown eyes at the expectations being laid onto him._

_After the delicious feast complete with a mountain of desert, they were led to their Common Rooms by Prefects. The dormitory for their year was divided into several rooms with five large comfortable four poster beds in each, Carver was relieved to find he shared a room with James and in fact his bed was right next to his new friend. They were too full to do much more then climb into bed and close their eyes, he was looking forward to his education at Hogwarts... He just wished Ethan could also be there to enjoy it._

* * *

"So Florian got away with my wand?" Antonius wondered of Jack/One after they returned for him, phasing him back into some hotel room where Oathan already was. The small child desperately tugging at the clearly locked door.

_With a flash, Antonius suddenly found himself in dark room that seemed to be a basement of some kind. Except he wasn't himself, he was closer to Oathan in size and he felt terrible. Like he was ill or something, he felt exhausted and weak yet till was desperately pulling at the doorknob. He was also crying, he could taste the tears and snot running down his face into his mouth. _

_"Mummy! Daddy!" he cried out desperately between sobs as he tugged uselessly at the door in a voice that wasn't Antonius' own, "I don't like it here, please! I'll be good when I turn, I promise! Mummy! Daddy!"_

It was gone as quickly as it had started, Antonius was once again standing in the hotel room with Jack/One moving over to get Oathan away from the door. He was no longer crying or small, in fact he was quite certain he had neither moved nor spoken. It was more like he'd been experiencing a memory except it wasn't his memory.

"Get away from the door, _there's a Silencing Charm on this room anyway_," Jack/One was saying to Oathan as they pulled him away from it, the boy yanked himself free of their grip and moved away sulkily, "And yes, Antonius, Florian got away with your wand. _As long as we have the boy though, we can use Oathan as a bargaining chip to get it back off him_."

"You too?" Oathan spoke up and Antonius glanced at him, seeing the hurt wavering in his eyes and the look of betrayal on his face, "You turned on Daddy too?"

"Oathan, your dad _is_ a bad person. We're doing the right thing here," Antonius told him determinedly and without remorse, Florian had kidnapped him, murdered his uncle and cut off is friends hand. There was no way he was in the right here, it wasn't betrayal if he'd never been on his side to begin with. He wasn't even on Jack/One's side, they were monsters. Poor Oathan was just unfortunate enough to be caught up in it all, "You're just too young to understand."

"Just cause I'm young, it doesn't mean that I'm stupid," Oathan snapped bitterly as he wandered over to the bedside table, he hung his head unhappily, "I undersand things. I undersand Daddy was right about you and everyone."

"Look…" Antonius started to say but trailed off as the violet eyes glanced back to him, the irony wasn't lost on him because he knew what it felt like to feel that way. This was different though, Oathan actually _was_ too young to understand anything. The boy was only four and Antonius really didn't have time for this, taking in the magic meant he'd die… He'd really actually die. He swallowed and tried to take that thought with him, he couldn't think about that right now, "It doesn't matter what you think, I'm right and you're wrong. We need to figure out how to get my wand off Florian."

"And Calderon, we're going to need him," Jack added.

_In another flash, Antonius saw Calderon lying on a bed in a cell staring blankly up… _Then it was gone.

"Hey, when… when you took magic," Antonius began curiously, "Did you… Did you keep seeing things?"

"Seeing things?"

"Yes, I keep seeing flashes and I… I know it sounds nuts but I think it's the Minister's memories."

"_It's not that nuts_," One shrugged as they folded their arms, "_Mind includes memories and is the link between soul and body, since magic is part of the soul it's not that bizarre for there to be a lingering connection."_

"But you didn't have that?"

"_No._ But then the people we took magic from died, _we ripped it all out of their soul whereas yours we only took most. _Alaric living might change things."

"Great," Antonius muttered unhappily before hearing an odd click.

"You took my wand but not my gun or knife," Oathan stated and they both looked back to see the kid holding a handgun, aiming it up at Jack/One with a slightly trembling grip, "I want Daddy. Take me to Daddy and I won't press this button to make the gun hurt you."

"_I'm sorry? Am I supposed to feel threatened?_" One wondered in amusement and Antonius took in the situation, the four year old holding a gun to the fully grown teleporting, soul destroying man. It was just so unbelievably ridiculous he burst out laughing as did Jack/One, much to his own surprise as he couldn't remember the last time he laughed.

"Stop laughing at me!" Oathan whined but Antonius couldn't stop, he didn't even really know why he was laughing. It was stupid, it was just so stupid.

_BANG._

Antonius jolted in shock, the laughter dying immediately as the gun went off. Oathan's arms jerked and he was thrown back from the recoil of the gun while a crimson spray erupted from Jack/One as they fell flat on their back. Antonius clambered over to him, seeing their body lying on the carpet with a bullet hole in the center of their forehead. He stepped back in surprise, Oathan had… Oathan had actually _killed_ them? He couldn't believe it. Antonius couldn't muster sympathy, after all he hated him. He was a monster who killed innocent people, unfortunately though Antonius also had no idea how he was supposed to complete the plan by himself. He hated himself for needing that monster.

Then Jack/One sat up. Antonius almost fell back off the bed in shock as they sat up, their sapphiric eyes still dancing with shadows opened. Antonius could only gape as a trickle of blood slid down from the bullet hole still in his face, he casually withdrew his wand.

"_Accio bullet_," One cast and Antonius watched in shock as the bullet flew back out, Antonius caught the disgusting mangled piece of bloody metal while Jack cast a quick healing spell to heal the bullet wound before standing as if they hadn't just survived a fatal wound, "_Accio gun_."

"Wh-" Oathan started to say as the gun flew from his small, he gaped at Jack/One in equal surprise, "I thoughted being hurt in the head means you're dead."

"_Apparently not_," One stated darkly before turning the gun on Oathan and dropping to his level, he pressed the barrel against Oathan's scar.

"What are you doing?" Antonius asked an instant before One pulled the trigger causing another deafening bang, Oathan screamed but the bullet seemed to have just grazed his cheek, "Don't shoot him! What the hell?!"

"_Hurts, doesn't it?_" One questioned of the now crying boy as Oathan put a hand to his bloody wound, he nodded through his tears, "_If you hurt me then I'll hurt you so don't you dare do anything like that again_. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes," Oathan stammered out tearfully and Jack/One stood, leaving him to clutch his wound and cry.

"I didn't know you could survive being shot in the head," Antonius pointed out as Jack/One m moved back to him, his shock wearing off.

"Neither did I," Jack admitted while Antonius felt sympathy for Oathan.

"Heal him."

"_No_."

"There's no reason for him to be in pain," Antonius insisted irritably.

"_He has to learn or he's going to keep resisting_," One countered firmly as they folded their arms once more.

"I think he learned his lesson, I say heal him."

"_Yeah well just because we turned on Florian it doesn't mean we take orders from you, boy," _One told him seriously_, "And don't you forget it_."

"I won't," Antonius said with a dark look at the specter-merged human before going over to Oathan, "Come on, let's get your wound looked at."

"Okay," Oathan sniffed as he allowed himself to be helped up so Antonius could bring him to the bathroom to clean it up, as he passed by Jack/One though he couldn't help a chilling thought strike him. If they could survive a bullet to the brain, what could actually kill them?

* * *

_Carver came to sorely regret his optimism in the coming days, Hogwarts was not nearly as great as he thought it was. While he was used to classes, he wasn't used to homework as the work tended to be confined in the classes purely because they didn't get the vast amount of free time they got in Hogwarts. Also, while he was used to some classes – the spellwork ones and Potions – others seemed utterly pointless like Astronomy, Herbology – because it was mostly boring lectures about plants that they could've just read in text books – and History of Magic. He found it hard to stay awake during Binns' lectures, let alone be able to learn anything. _

_And on top of all that, he deliberately had to hold himself back to pretend he hadn't been to a magic school prior to Hogwarts. Then there was Flying, he hated Flying. The first class he'd broken his nose trying to summon the damn thing to his hand and had flat out fallen off – repeatedly – while trying to balance on it, much to the mocking amusement of his peers. James was better at it though and even went as far as to tryout to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Carver watched to support his friend. James fared much better than the other First Years foolish enough to try out but still could do with some improvement._

_"So did I make the team?" James asked the Captain eagerly once it was over._

_"Err… Well, for Harry Potter's son… Sure," the Captain agreed with a nervous smile, "Just as a Reserve though, we'll train you up this year and come next year I'm sure you'll be dominating. You'd make a fair Beater I think, you have a good swing."_

_"No, I want to be a Seeker," James insisted and stamped his foot determinedly, surprising the Captain._

_"Err… Sure, we can work on that."_

_"Excellent," James stated eagerly and rushed to join Carver in his excitement, grinning from ear to ear, "Did you see that, Carve? I made Reserve to train me up and next year I'm going to get to be a Seeker just like my dad! Isn't that great? Aren't I great? Next year those other losers won't stand a chance against me."_

_"Good job, buddy," Carver offered and clapped his friend on the shoulder in congratulations. _

* * *

"It just doesn't make any sense," Cel was complaining to him as Aurors wandered around the Minister's house to track his attackers, he seemed completely stumped.

"I agree," Harry admitted with sigh and rubbed his stinging eyes, sleep did not come easily when your eldest son and was a Shadow and your oldest friend had betrayed you.

"So Florian abducts Ashain's son, allies with this bizarre Specter-powered man to rip most of the magic out of the Minister of Magic's soul to give to Ashain's son then is betrayed by them and flees," Cel recounted quite accurately, "What the bloody hell is he playing at?! Literally, what in all of Merlin's ashes does he expect to gain from this? What does _any_ of them? I knew Florian was nuts but I figured there'd be _some_ kind of method to his madness even if it's extremely twisted. I'm really just at a loss here."

"I know," Harry agreed once more, he was as clueless as his protégé while he caught sight of the Healer coming back down from Alaric's room, "Head the search outside, I'll see how he's doing."

"Okay," Cel agreed and headed off while Harry approached the Healer, a woman he didn't know.

"Is he ready to be moved to St Mungo's yet?"

"No," the Healer told him and shifted uncomfortably.

"Why not?"

"Because he woke up while I was treating him and he doesn't want to go to St Mungo's, Minister Layton feels his injury has been adequately treated and would prefer to remain at home for his recovery."

"But that's insane," Harry protested incredulously while suspicion gnawed at his mind, "He had a piece of his _soul_ ripped out according to him, surely that's worth having some extra care for especially with this 'condition' of his."

"I'm sure he has his reasons," the Healer mumbled and shifted once more, Harry frowned at her suspiciously.

"Do you know something I don't?"

"Erm… I… Maybe," the Healer admitted nervously, Harry took her arm and led her off into the stairwell away from the handful of Aurors still around.

"Look," Harry began and lowered his voice, "I know he's the Minister but I'm the Head Auror, if you know _anything_ that I don't that's even remotely important you _need_ to tell me. Times are too dangerous for me to _not_ know things."

"It's just that erm… well… um…" the Healer stammered out, her eyes bulged anxiously before she took his arm and led him upstairs to ensure they were even further away from the others, "I'm not really supposed to tell you this so… Please don't tell anyone, I could lose my job."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Well… Okay…" the Healer agreed and took a deep breath before continuing, "While I was treating his shoulder Acutus caused injury, I noticed an older injury. A bite."

"A bite?" Harry repeated in confusion and the Healer nodded before dropping her voice to a whisper.

"He's a werewolf."

"He's a-" Harry started to say in shock and the Healer just nodded knowingly, he swallowed, "Thank you for telling me, you can go now. I'll talk to him."

The Healer nodded yet again before heading back downstairs while Harry stalked off to get to Alaric's bedroom, he barged in without bothering to knock. The Minister was lying propped up in his large double bed, his pajama top was unbuttoned revealing some of the bandages around his injured shoulder. Harry slammed the door behind him and Alaric's navy eyes flicked open, drifting to him weakly.

"You're a werewolf?!" Harry burst out at him angrily and from the look on Alaric's face he was cursing himself mentally, "This whole time your condition, the reason you miss work, the reason I have a hard time trusting you was _just_ because you're a werewolf?!"

"I guess," Alaric mumbled tiredly.

"How long have you been a werewolf for?! Why did you impose a law about the werewolf bracelets if you are one?! Wh-"

"Would you calm down? There's no need to yell," Alaric insisted, sounding a bit more like himself and Harry went over to sit by him, "And if you must know I was bitten by Greyback during the Second War, I was five and Voldemort set him on me because my daddy didn't do what he was told. I imposed the law for political reasons, tensions were high and I had to seem like I was doing something while doing nothing. Okay?"

"No, it is not okay! You lied to me."

"Oh get over yourself, Potter," Alaric stated irritably, rolling his eyes, "I didn't lie I just omitted the truth. Nothing personal, I do that with everyone."

"You have to tell the public the truth."

"No, you have to join me in keeping it secret," Alaric said and Harry opened his mouth to object but Alaric cut him off, "I know _you_ don't care but other people would, it's a sensitive issue right now. If it gets out I'm a werewolf, it risks inciting a civil war over the subject when we need to be focused on stopping the Shadows right now. Try think about this from a political standpoint, whether you like politics or not it's important. Not to mention I'll either lose my job or have to step down, you may not be my biggest fan but there are worse people who could replace me. Okay?"

"Okay," Harry agreed hesitantly although he was still annoyed at the secrecy, they did have more pressing concerns.

"Don't tell anyone. And I mean it, not a soul. We don't want another Leebin incident," Alaric said and Harry felt a pang of guilt as he recalled the whole thing, "Unless I die then who the hell even cares."

"You think Florian wants you dead?"

"I just had a large chunk of my soul torn out, I'm not sure that I'm not dying right now."

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, realizing Alaric's attack had managed to slip his mind.

"In a word? Bad. Really,_ really_ bad," Alaric admitted and his flicked back to him seriously, "You have to find them, Harry, I need my soul to be whole again. And to a wider extent this guy who can rip parts of people's souls out and teleport in past apparation wards is extremely dangerous, Patronuses seem to hurt him though so that's something. The public should be warned."

"For once I agree."

* * *

_Worst of all about Hogwarts though, was the bullies. Carver had had a hard time before but having his dad in a position of power and his own talents had helped, this time though he didn't have his dad able to help him and he had to hold back to maintain his cover. The bully boy he'd first seen on the train he learned was named Kyle Nott, he seemed to make it his personal mission in life to make them miserable. Not that other Slytherins were much better, plenty seemed to have it out for Harry Potter's son and his fat friend. James was too proud to ask for help though and denied it if asked._

_"They'll think less of me if I complain," James insisted unhappily, "My dad never went whining to teachers when he was in trouble, he always came through."_

_Carver supposed Hogwarts wasn't all bad, he did have a friend at least even if he couldn't be entirely honest with him about his past and he was away from Pegasus plus the food was great. Well mostly, his stepdad still wrote to him even if it seemed to just be to complain about his house or berate him for his failures. His mum wrote albeit less frequently, usually to either complain about pregnancy or praise Pegasus for stupid things like telling her he was pleased she was carrying his child or that he thought she was still beautiful. If he wrote back with too much mention of his own life, he was chastised for selfishly going on about his own problems by Pegasus or according to Pegasus as his mum insisted. His dad wrote even more infrequently but his words were kinder albeit as self-centered and oblivious to Carver as usual._

_Contrary to feeling upset about the doomed situation his life seemed to be in, he felt increasingly angry. It sucked that he felt as if he couldn't catch a break and it wasn't fair dammit, why should his life have to go wrong when no one else's seemed to? Why did he have to a lousy stepfather like Pegasus? Why did he have to have the most self-centered parents in the world? Why did he have to have a million siblings his parents cared more about them him? Why did he have to get picked on constantly? What right did they have to treat him that way?! What had he ever freaking done to deserve this?! He knew he wasn't perfect – no one was - but he was hardly the worst person in the world still, he was only eleven._

_He was so angry, he could feel this rage building up inside him with every spell, with every insult, with every mocking line of Pegasus' letters. He just felt so angry, he just wanted to explode, he just wanted to hit someone, hurt someone so his pent up rage had a target. Christmas was upon them before he knew it though, he just tried to bury it back down inside as he returned home. James was in better spirits, excited to see his family again and celebrate both his twelfth birthday and Christmas. Carver's holiday was about as lousy as he expected, his dad only stopped by briefly to see him once and he didn't see Ethan or his other siblings at all, Pegasus was his usual cruel jerk self – although seemed slightly kinder to his pregnant wife - and his mum seemed more moody then usual and constantly craving a weird food combination. Going home did make him realize one thing though: as much as he disliked Hogwarts, he disliked home even more._

* * *

Scorpius was miserable following his loss to Ravenclaw and secluded himself in the dormitory as much as possible, he couldn't believe that he'd failed. He'd failed his team, he'd failed his friends, he'd failed his house, he'd failed whoever had been foolish enough to put any faith in him. What had possessed them to do that? Didn't they know he was a failure? He failed to stop the Shadows, he failed to save Antonius, he failed to save Calderon, he failed to save Leebin, he failed to apparate, he even felt as if he'd failed himself or at least his morals by trying to get the Snitch instead of helping Sequoia which ironically would have allowed him to catch the Snitch. Could he do nothing right?

"Are you seriously still moping about this?" Albus questioned of him as they trudged down to breakfast on Monday, "I'm bummed we lost too but, _come on_."

"You wouldn't understand, it's not your responsibility," Scorpius pointed out bitterly, keeping his head hung.

He went through the day unhappily, he was glad at least that they were piling on the NEWT work as the end of year was nearing as it gave him something to do to distract himself from his failures. Maybe he was just imagining it but he was sure the other Gryffindors kept looking at him, they knew what a failure he was, everyone did. He just wanted to curl up in his dormitory and be alone or alternatively drown in difficult work some more, for that reason he was both relieved and disappointed when the last class of the day – Alchemy – rolled around. He stayed behind unhappily to help Rojer pack things away.

"You know that you do not have the obligation to stay and help," Rojer pointed out, drawing Scorpius away from his thoughts, "If this does make you so upset then go."

"It's not that," Scorpius admitted and shook his head as he deposited the last of the equipment into the sink where Rojer was washing them, "I just have other things on my mind."

"Uh-huh."

"Have you ever failed at anything before?" Scorpius wondered as he started to dry and put away the equipment Rojer washed.

"No, I am the perfect human being and I never have failed," Rojer stated with dry sarcasm before glancing at him neutrally, "Yes, of course I have done this."

"I feel like I've been failing a lot recently, that's why I'm upset not from helping you."

"Is this still because of the boy that was taken? Because you know this is not the responsibility of yours."

"It is partly because of… It's a long story," Scorpius changed his sentence midway through as he put away the last of the equipment.

"Are you ever going to finish telling me this longer story from the before?" Rojer wondered and Scorpius glanced at Ashylos' son who was drying his hands.

Scorpius had forgotten he'd promised to tell Rojer about his history with the Shadows. He was about to say no or at least not right now but… well maybe it would be good to tell a neutral outsider, it couldn't hurt and at least it meant he could stay with Rojer in isolation for a bit longer instead of going back to face the world. And so they sat down and Scorpius told him, he told him about his abduction and killing Marvin, about the Blood Runes and sacrificing his friends, about Varanian's possession and stopping the Shadow Master. He told him about when the Shadows were after him, about the wrist scar connection, about saving the Scamanders, about the Shadow Master being in a coma and how he revived the guy then let him go.

He told him about the werewolf army, about the broken souls, about the search for the Shadow professor, about Florian's flight and Michael turning. He told him about the Scepter, at least what he hadn't told him already then about the revelation of the Shadow Master being Voldemort's son, saving Varanian from his arrest, the attack on Hogwarts and repelling them, the birth of Gray and finally his year of failing. Glossing only over things he deemed more personal and irrelevant to the Shadows as well as details regarding his contact with Varanian, plus the location of the base. Rojer listened in absolute silence with his usual unreadable grim expression, listening quite patiently.

"Interesting," Rojer mused finally when he was done.

"Interesting? That's all you have to say?" Scorpius wondered in surprise and Rojer gave a half-shrug.

"I am not one who says much of what I think of out loud. But you should not have worry, if anything Florian probably took Antonius because of my father's wand not to hurt him like you have been."

"Why would he want Ashylos' wand?" Scorpius questioned in confusion, "And if he wanted the wand then why take Antonius?"

"Because of the wand was originally part of Herpo's Scepter as a whole, they may be separate but they will always have this connection. Alone that may not mean much but since the wand chose Antonius, it trumps the blood connection this Shadow Master has. Florian might think he can have use it and Antonius to get Herpo's Scepter off the descendant."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I am not aware of the goals of this man I have not met," Rojer scoffed irritably, "Why does any people do anything?"

"Would that actually work though?" Scorpius wondered worriedly, "I mean the Shadow Master is pretty powerful, like insanely powerful."

"This is probably why he wished for the connection to be broken to the scarred wrists, to weaken this descendant somewhat. I do not know if it would have work, when Pancratius died he cursed my father and his bloodline. My father was immortal and his children could live longer lifes then most of the wizards, well into the two hundred years and are powerful with reflexes better than the most have. It is weaker as the generations go by so I do not know where this Antonius stands or to compare to the Shadow Master, he is also a child with a broken soul so may be more in tune with the magic he has. These Shadow Master is powerful though, Scepter or not. The connection made to have be able to access your magic means it was a connection of the soul, this was not done with the Specters, this was done by his self."

"How is it done if not through Specters?"

"Through power and will," Rojer offered dismissively, "Soul is the hardest of the magics in practice but also one of the most simple in theory. As you know, magic is part of the soul because magic _is_ the soul. Muggles may not have the consolidation of magic they can use as wizards can but the soul itself is still power, a raw energy of life that exists in all of us. It is hard to break this powerful thing and even harder when we cannot see it because the soul is on a different plane, hard but not impossible. Power and will go a long way in manipulating the soul similar with the mental arts or non-verbal tasks like the apparation, some knowledge and the ability to see the soul through the Specters eyes would help them with this."

"Scor?" a voice called and they both glanced to the door to see Maurice wandering in, his remaining hand went to his necklace, "What are you doing up here? Don't you know what you're missing?"

"Dinner?" Scorpius guessed, annoyed at the interruption.

"Japan just fell to the Shadows."

* * *

_Carver was actually glad to be going back to Hogwarts, he was however surprised to find that James didn't share in his enthusiasm. On the contrary, he hid himself away unhappily in the corner of his compartment looking as if he wanted to cry._

_"What's wrong, Jay?" Carver asked gently as he sat down beside his friend, putting a hand on James' shoulder._

_"You know my dad's invisibility cloak that I told you about?" James prompted and Carver nodded in confirmation, "That special cloak passed down in the Potter family in generations from father to firstborn son."_

_"You've told me."_

_"At Christmas my dad gave it to my younger brother, Albus," James told him and looked at him with tear-filled eyes, "My dad gave it to my brother. H-He doesn't think I'm g-good enough to be his s-son, he loves Al-Al more than he does me."_

_"I'm sure he-" Carver started to say but James burst into tears, he instead awkwardly put his arm around him and James buried his face against Carver's shoulders to cry and Carver realized idly he kind of liked being that close to James, "I'm sure he loves you just as much, I mean he's a famous hero, he's good so he must."_

_"He doesn't! If he did then he wouldn't have given it to Albus!" James sobbed angrily, "H-He said he thinks Al-Albus is more responsible for it then me b-but I've been tr-trying s-s-so hard to be responsible, I h-haven't pranked an-anyone, I hav-haven't gotten in trouble, I tr-tried on my work b-but he still thinks my brother is better than me!"_

_"Well, I erm… I'm sorry," Carver offered unsurely, parents had their favorites – his mum with the unborn baby and his dad with Viola – which sucked but was true and there wasn't anything you can do about it. Instead he just hugged his friend to comfort him before the door slid open._

_"Hugging each other? Gay," a voice mocked and they both turned to see Kyle Nott standing there smugly. _

_"Beat it, Nott!"_

_"Why what'cha going to do fatty? Scare me with a musical number? Smother me with your rolls of flab? Eat me?"_

_"Are you causing trouble?" the elderly voice of the kindly Trolley Lady complained, Carver couldn't see her but he saw the trolley come into view beside Kyle, "Because I can pass your name along to the prefects if you are."_

_"No, I was just… stretching my legs," Kyle insisted and stalked off without further incident, much to Carver's relief. He bought some sweets from her while James seemed to calm down, anger seeming to replace his tears._

_"I'm sick of being picked on by those slimy snake scum," James announced bitterly as he tore into the wrapper of his Pumpkin Pasty, "If they can get us, we have every right to get them, get some payback. You up for some revenge, Carve?"_

_"Definitely," Carver agreed in surprise, he was sick of it too._

* * *

Antonius had not been having a great few weeks, he didn't know what he'd expected but he felt as if time was crawling by exceedingly slowly. A whole lot of nothing was happening, he was now more confident than ever on his summoning but it was too bad they still hadn't managed to get his wand back from Florian. It was hard to use Oathan as leverage to force Florian to give him the wand back when they couldn't actually find Florian, since he was a fugitive and all he didn't exactly have an address.

In the meantime, he was still getting flashes of the Minister's memories – although he thought that actually might be useful – and they were running out of time before the Shadow Master attacked. And on top of that, the more time Antonius had to think about things the more time he had to _think_ about things. He missed his sister's ninth birthday and it made him realize that he'd never be there for one of her birthdays again, adding magic to his soul meant he'd die. He tried not to think too much about it but her birthday really got to him, he was really going to die. Despite everything, despite not feeling alive, despite not being particularly happy, he didn't _want_ to die. He wanted to be there for his sister's birthdays, he wanted to see the look on his dad's face when he – hopefully – made Ravenclaw when he started Hogwarts.

He didn't want to die, not really. Maybe it was selfish but sometimes he did truly wish he hadn't so hastily given himself a death sentence, maybe he should've heard Florian out. If he didn't get his wand back and they didn't find Calderon and got him to agree then it would all be for naught anyway, he didn't want to have killed himself for nothing. He didn't want to die knowing the war still waged and everyone he loved was still at risk, which he supposed was a chance anyway since he had no idea if the plan would work even if everything went perfectly. He could only hope it would because he wanted to win, at least then he could die knowing his sister would definitely live to have other birthdays even if he couldn't be there. He missed them. He selfishly also hoped he'd win just so he could see them again, even if it was just for a little while. It had been less than six months that he'd been gone but it felt like so much longer. And it would be even longer when he died, he'd never see them again then.

"_Your eyes are leaking_," One taunted and Antonius hastily wiped his eyes, tearing them away from the people walking their dog that had triggered the memories of his family, "You alright?"

"Alaric just really hates ketchup," Antonius lied as he went back to nibbling at his food, well it wasn't a lie but it wasn't why he'd been upset.

"_Enough to cry?"_

"Shut up," Antonius snapped although it did remind him of what he'd been about to say before he was side tracked, "I've learned quite a lot about what Alaric is like, you know? From his memories."

"And?"

"And some of those memories are of this muggle woman," Antonius recounted, he did have quite a few rather interesting memories of her, "Claudia her name was. She was this woman that he dated, that he loved – and still does I think, that he was even going to marry at one point but his severe trust issues had her end it."

"_Not getting why this guy's love life is relevant_," One complained and Antonius set down his knife and fork to look his captor turned ally in the eye.

"It's relevant because she's one of the few people he trusts and she's the one he came to when he needed to hide Calderon," Antonius explained and One also set down his cutlery, giving him his complete attention, "He gave her money to rent a muggle place, it's harder for magical records to trace. That's where Calderon's hidden. We find her, we find him."

"We can find her if we know her name, her full name."

"Good thing I know it then, isn't it?"

* * *

**Part 3: **Time and Triangles

* * *

_And so they started on their revenge, James introduced him to the concept of 'pranking' which they used on Slytherins in their own year since they couldn't get to Kyle. Carver found it all… rather tame, he'd learned of torture and murder but James' idea of revenge was unleashing a bad smell upon their enemy? Carver knew he was trying to abide by their societal conventions but did he really have to go along with something that was so pathetic? He decided it couldn't hurt to try steer James into more effective ways of fighting back, with any luck there'd get to a happy medium between James' pathetic pranks and his own overly vicious ideas. _

_It did wonders for James' self-confidence at any rate and kept his mind off his father's favoritism, cheering him up and bringing a smile to his face, it made Carver feel better about being picked on too. Punishing the Slytherins also made them more popular with their fellow Gryffindors, a couple of other boys started hanging out with them too and joining in on the pranks. Carver couldn't help but fear that James would abandon him because he liked these new kids anyway, normal kids who hadn't spent years in the Training Tower removed from regular society. Carver only felt more upset in fact, his parents replaced with new kids and now his first friend was going to replace him with better friends. At least taking that rage out on random Slytherins made him feel somewhat better._

_Easter was upon them before he realized and this time, it was insisted upon that he return home because they wanted him to see the newly born baby. Pegasus named her Maeghan using Meg as a nickname, Carver found in unbelievable that after forcing his mum to lose her name he could have the nerve to use it on the baby just to make his mum think he loved her. Maybe it was even more believable that his mum actually seemed to believe it, was it really so hard to see that he was just so obviously manipulating her? Apparently not. And the new baby herself… He was used to his dad having babies but he'd never had to sleep near them or help with them unlike now when the baby seemed to cry all of the time, if it wasn't hungry it had a dirty diaper and if it didn't need a diaper change it was hungry. He thought his mum was right in the first place, children were exhausting and he didn't know why people wanted them. He was more than glad to return to Hogwarts where at least he'd a night of uninterrupted sleep._

* * *

Scorpius could only feel increasingly anxious, the fall of Japan marked ten countries under the Shadows' control. That made ten countries now under their control, too many. Not to mention the fact that with that much power, it made it even more worrisome if Rojer was right about Florian planning to pit Antonius against the Shadow Master. He wasn't the only one worried, the political world seemed to blow up on the wireless and in the papers. Muggles wanted more than ever to take action – there were talks about 'missile strikes' from the United States which apparently was bad – and the wizard governments were trying desperately hard to calm them, insisting it was a magical issue. Their own Minister, Alaric Layton, was reported as being ill so England was less involved with this debate.

Scorpius did have his own issues to deal with though, the next Hogsmeade trip was that weekend. He hadn't forgotten about what Molly had said when experiencing her premonition, about wishing Martha had come on the trip even though she wasn't technically allowed. He had no idea how or why but he'd rather the girl be there just in case, Molly was a Seer and he knew better then to ignore what she said. Of course, that also meant getting Martha to agree to it. He hadn't talked to the girl since Maurice had argued with her and after Carver's death, he had no idea how willing she'd be to go along with him. He had to try though.

And so he used the map to locate Martha, keeping an eye on it in his spare time and waiting until he noticed she was alone before going to her. He found her at the top of the Astronomy Tower, sitting with her knees hugged to her chest and staring out at the grounds. She glanced at him as he approached before looking back out, he sat down beside her nervously.

"Hey," Scorpius offered in greeting which had her shift her cloudy gray eyes to him.

"Hey," Martha said in turn and he shifted uncomfortably, what was the best way to approach this?

"So um… What you doing up here?"

"Auriga is close to her father, when she visits him I like to wait outside," Martha explained and gave a half-shrug, "I like the view, reminds me of home."

"I thought you were in the Shadow school?"

"I was, the Training Tower it's called and you can see from miles into untouched scenery like here, that's home. Dad lived there since he taught, it's where I grew up. It may not be the nicest environment but the view is good. And I had family there."

"I'm sorry about your brother," Scorpius offered as sincerely as he could considering Carver had been bad although he supposed he had shown the occasional glimmer of humanity, more than James at least. And regardless, he could sympathize with the loss of a sibling and Martha averting her eyes sadly. He didn't wish that upon her.

"It's okay. First Dad, now Carver, I'm not a fool. I know war has risks, so did he," Martha offered quietly before meeting his eyes once more, "So what did you really want to talk to me about? Somehow I doubt it was to talk to my brother."

"No, I didn't," Scorpius admitted and shifted awkwardly again, "I wanted to… um… ask you if you'd like to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

"What? Really? Me?" Martha wondered in shock, looking completely taken aback and Scorpius' mind took that moment to recall that she supposedly had a crush on him "Why?"

"Because… Okay this is going to sound a little weird," Scorpius began and tried to think of what to say, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. It was probably best to just go with the truth, he had no reason not to, "But my girlfriend is a Seer and last time I saw her she had a vision of something bad happening but you coming to Hogsmeade with me might help stop it maybe."

"So you want me to go with you to Hogsmeade because it _might_ help with _something_ bad that _could_ happen?"

"Well when you put it like that it sounds rather stupid," Scorpius realized in embarrassment and Martha laughed in amusement, "Okay, I know it doesn't sound like much but... these visions shouldn't be taken likely. If you're really in this because you want to help, you should come and even if it amounts to nothing you get a trip to Hogsmeade out of it. And if nothing else, do it because you owe me one for trying to murder me."

"Fair point," Martha nodded in understanding, "Okay, I'll go with you."

* * *

_Carver returned to Hogwarts and was happy to be reunited with James, plus it was nice to be able to sleep again and getting back at the Slytherins was a good way to vent his frustrations. It didn't help James was still friends with those other kids, they were chatty and normal then he was. He feared more than ever James would abandon him, feeling increasingly more jealous and angry that he was spending so much time with those clowns. Ultimately to the point he was so moody that James actually seemed to notice. _

_"What is going on with you lately?" James complained at him one of the days after he snapped at the other friends for something stupid._

_"Nothing," Carver grunted irritably, causing his friend to frown._

_"Well okay then, let's meet up with the others and-"_

_"Then go meet up with the others!" Carver barked at him in frustration, further confusing James._

_"How about we try one of your pranks then?" James offered instead as a lone Slytherin from their year walked by, Carver raised an eyebrow at him but his friend, "Hey snake scum!"_

_The Slytherin glanced at them just in time for James to smash his fist into the Slytherin's face in passing, sending the small boy to the ground. James shook off his punching hand with an expression of surprise before a smile slipped onto his face._

_"Why didn't you tell me it feels so good to hit someone?" James queried of him as he withdrew his wand, "It's such a rush."_

_"What did you do that for?" the Slytherin boy wondered, his eyes watering._

_"Quiet you!" James snapped at him before glancing back at Carver while keeping his wand on the boy to discourage fleeing, "So now what? You're the one with the spell knowledge."_

_"I'm not really in the mood," Carver brushed it off._

_"Is that not why you're mad at me? For not using your ideas more?"_

_"Of course not!"_

_"Then why?" James pressed, looking completely confused and Carver sighed heavily._

_"Can… Can I go?" the Slytherin asked as he looked between them, James jerked his head indicating he could leave and watched him go darkly before his attention shifted back to Carver as he folded his arms._

_"Well? Talk to me."_

_"I'm scared that you'll replace me with your new friends," Carver admitted and found his voice cracking from a lump in his throat, he wiped his eyes hastily and realized how pathetic he sounded._

_"Carver," James began and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, Carver felt his heart skip a beat, "I could never replace you, those guys may be my friends but you're my best friend."_

_"Really?"_

_"Really," James assured him and Carver smiled, James returned it and pulled him into a hug that Carver happily returned._

* * *

Albus Potter was miserable. After wrestling and trying to figure out his feelings for months, he'd come to realize he loved Abby. Except she was dating Sequoia Pentakel and his friends insisted the best thing to do was just to wait it out, doing that was _so_ hard though. She was one of his best friends, he saw her every day and he saw her every day with _him_. It was so hard to be around that, it always had been but now to realize _why_ just made it that much harder.

He knew his friends had advised silence but dammit, it wasn't easy to keep his feelings to himself. He couldn't even stand to be alone with her recently because he itched to vomit words at her, to kiss her and hold her and tell her he loved her. And he _really_ wanted to tell you. Not just because it felt wrong to keep it bottled up but because he lived in fear that he was really going to lose her, he was going to lose her because he just sat there and watched her walk away with another man. She and Pentakel seemed to be going strong and despite being dull as mud he had a lot going for him, he had a lot of badges, he got better grades then Albus, he was a more talented flier then Albus… Albus probably trumped him in looks but only because Pentakel was scarred from his werewolf mauling and even then he thought Pentakel was more physically fit. If he didn't fight for her, he doubted she'd even notice him as a romantic candidate.

Since his class schedule was lighter than his friends and one of his classes was Astronomy at night – obviously – anyway, he had more breaks then him. Without fail, every morning he had a break while most if not all of his friends had other classes. He knew they were supposed to be used for the avalanche of homework but he tended to just use them to nap, he did have Astronomy cutting into his sleeping time every weeknight so he considered it justified. He needed his naps especially since he tossed and turned so much, he worried about the war and everything too. He just didn't like talking and thinking about it every waking second, he didn't think he could cope if he did. Thursday was the only exception, after Charms Abby and Rose also had free as well while the others were in Alchemy. These days, he left the girls to do… whatever while he went to his dormitory to nap.

"Hey Al!" Abby called after him, causing him to freeze stupidly in shock instead of continuing on and pretending to not have heard her in the dispersing Charms crowd like a smarter person would've done, "Wait up!"

"Hmm," Albus mumbled uselessly while he his insides felt as if they were solidifying, where was Rose when you needed her? She'd wanted to ask Grant about something.

"Where are you going in a hurry?" Abby wondered as she caught up to him.

"To nap," Albus shrugged her off and she frowned at him worriedly.

"Are you okay, Al?"

"Fine."

"You just seem a little… distant lately," Abby offered unsurely with notable concern in her tone, she touched his arm gently and he felt his innards crumbling, "If there's something on your mind you can talk to me about it, you know that right?"

"I know," Albus whispered and met her gaze, his stomach squirming. Did being able to talk to her about anything include being in love with her? "I'm okay."

"Are you sure? I know it must be rough about James and Loui-"

"I'm _sure_," Albus insisted more forcefully then he meant to but she did back off like he'd wanted.

"Okay," Abby said in defeat as she made to move away, "Enjoy your nap, I was going to go meet Sequoia anyway since he's also free now."

"You're going to meet…?!" Albus started to say before angrily trailing off, frustration getting the better of him that even when she was being concerned about him it was only her way to meet freaking Pentakel, "You know what's on my mind?! That!"

"I know you don't like Sequoia but I've told you before, it's none of your business," Abby shot out defensively, folding her arms crossly, "What is your problem with him anyway? We're in love and we're happy, you should be glad for us."

"L-Love?" Albus stammered out in surprise, feeling tears prick his eyes and a hopeless lump swelling in his throat. If they were in love it was serious, it was just as he feared he was losing her. Despite what his friends had said, he felt he had no choice and the cracked words came from his lips, "W-Well w-would it make a difference if I told you that I love you?"

"Alb- _What_?!" Abby wondered in absolute shock and he took her hands desperately.

"Abby, I love you. With all my heart and soul, Pentakel couldn't possibly love you as much as I love you. I know on paper he seems great but he seriously the dullest person on the planet while we've known each other all our lives, I know you better than he ever could and I'd make you happier than he ever would."

"It's just a crush," Abby told him but she didn't pull away, "Al, you get these 'love' feelings all the time but-"

"No! I don't, not like this," Albus protested and squeezed her hands to pull her closer to him, irrationally fearful if he lost her hands he'd lose her forever, "At first I thought it was nuts too but I've been thinking about this for months, trying to figure it out and I figured out that I love you. That's why I couldn't stand it when you dated Corin or Sequoia. Because you shouldn't be with them, you should be with me because I _love_ you. And I know you at least _considered_ it before."

"I _considered_ it but I got over it… Look, Al, I love you-"

"Abby?" an unwelcome voice said and they both turned to see Sequoia Pentakel standing there, a look of utter hurt dawning on his face. For a second Albus was confused why before realizing they were still holding hands and her words could be taken out of context, he was assuming the worst. He turned away with tear-filled eyes and for the first time, it occurred to Albus that _maybe _Pentakel did _possibly_ genuinely care about her… _slightly_.

"Sequoia, wait, it's not what it looks like!" Abby protested and tore her hands away from Albus to run after him, pulling him back desperately, "I was just telling Al I loved him as a friend."

"From where I was standing it didn't look like friendship!" Sequoia shot out angrily, his voice cracking as if trying not to cry.

"Sequoia, please!" Abby yelled desperately but he brushed her aside and continued stalking off, she watched him go with hurt-filled eyes.

"Oh, who needs him," Albus offered awkwardly, trying to be comforting and her eyes flashed to him angrily before she also walked away. Albus buried his face in his hands, what had he done?

* * *

_Feeling more secure after that, Carver found the last few months of his First Year passing by much more enjoyably and James started taking more of his own 'pranks' into account too. Carver was disappointed to return home, back to his psychotic stepfather and screaming baby sister. He found himself increasingly jealous of Meg, he hadn't realized before how much attention babies got while all he got was yelled at to do things. He supposed at least Pegasus was laying off him so he could help his mum with the baby, Pegasus desperately seemed to want kids but not to spend time with them. He left that to his mum and Carver while already starting to make comments about needing a second child since he needed a son to continue the family name not just a daughter, Carver couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts._

_On the bright side, he did get to see his dad over the summer along with his paternal half-siblings including Ethan who seemed rather solemn. They were better to be around then Meg, they didn't require constant attention and they were people not crying poop machines. He was still glad to be back on the train to Hogwarts with James and their other friends though, he hoped it would be a good year. James was all excited too, looking forward to getting to be a Seeker. Their journey was interrupted though by randomly coming to a halt, where someone cast the Shadow Mark into the sky. Of course Carver was the only one who recognized it, he didn't say anything lest he out himself. It was written off as a prank but Carver knew different, still nothing seemed to come of it so they'd probably gotten whatever they wanted secretly._

_The year got off to a further bad start where James' Seeker dreams were crushed by some First Year getting the spot even though James still made Beater, earning the boy a permanent spot on James' hate list, right up there with Kyle Nott and also coming from a Slytherin family didn't help even though he made Gryffindor. It didn't help that a boy from their year became the Ravenclaw Seeker, earning himself a spot on James' hate list too out of jealousy. Another First Year Gryffindor also joined them after standing up to James in defense, he later earned the nickname 'Dragon-breath' after being the recipient of a spell causing him to cough up fire which Carver had taught James. Kyle was picking on them less though, that was good._

_Christmas was crept up on him before he realized, he chose to stay as he figured what was the point? His mum would only care about the baby and he learned in a letter that she was expecting her second child, frustrating him further and giving him more fuel for pranking. He was glad when James returned although as the year progressed, he had the increasing feeling that something was happening behind the curtain he wasn't aware of. He brushed it off though, he didn't really have anything to fear from the Soul Eaters since he was one of them. And then came the attack on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts._

_Carver was shocked, he was horrified. He'd been made aware of Specters, he'd been brought up on learning about war but… somehow it had never occurred to him that people got hurt. The enemy wasn't a bunch of trained people fighting back, they were just regular people caught up in a battle they didn't want to be a part of. They were causing chaos and people got hurt in chaos. He got away physically unscathed but it gave him a lot to think about, this was the side he was on? The one causing pain and death? Sure he took his anger out on random Slytherins – plus those on James' list – but this was different. _

* * *

"Albus, you idiot, what did you go and do that for?!" Scorpius complained and slapped his palm to his face in frustration after Albus told him what had happened with Abby.

"I didn't know that would happen!" Albus protested unhappily as he flopped down onto his bed, "I wasn't thinking. And now Abby hates me and I'm worse off them ever. What do I do?"

"Do what you should have done in the first place which is _nothing_," Michael insisted, "You'll just make things worse, you need to give Abby some space."

"I guess," Albus sighed unhappily and rolled over, picking up his pillow and pulling it over his face, "Why can I do _nothing_ right?"

Albus' actions did not make the next few days particularly easy, neither Albus nor Abby – nor Sequoia for that matter - showed up for dinner that night and Scorpius spent the whole meal listening to Rose complain about how foolish Albus had been. They did for breakfast though – well not Sequoia – and Abby made a point to sit away from Albus, making Scorpius feel incredibly awkward about sitting with Albus. He hated when any of his friends fought, he didn't want to feel like he was picking sides and it was frustrating having to try juggle his time between them. He hated seeing them like this too, both Abby and Albus seemed miserable all through classes and outside of classes. The Hogsmeade trip was Sunday so he also had to endure Saturday, Albus stayed in their dormitory while Abby quietly worked on homework with them but her eyes shot to the door as soon as it opened then fell in disappointment.

"Looking for someone?" Corin wondered after a while of this.

"Sequoia," Abby admitted unhappily, "I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet and with NEWTs literally a week away studying has been a priority so I hoped I'd see him here, he hasn't left his dormitory since Thursday."

"Maybe it's a sign you should just give up on him?" Corin wondered which only made her look more upset.

"I don't _want_ to give up on him."

"We don't always get what we want," Michael pointed out truthfully with a shrug and Abby fell into a melancholic silence.

Scorpius couldn't stay with them all day though, tomorrow was Hogsmeade and he had to make arrangements for Martha to come. He'd been going to get Albus' permission for his cloak and how to get through one of the passageways, however she informed him she already knew how to get to Hogsmeade without getting caught and arranged to meet him outside the Shrieking Shack at midday. He was rather nervous about it, his way seemed more secure and the last thing he wanted was for her to get caught or lost and not end up being there. He also had no idea what he was supposed to do with her, Molly had said she should be there but not why or what would happen or where they should go. Since Molly had warned him, he also thought he should be ready in case something went down.

Usually when he put thought into what he wore going to Hogsmeade it was to look good for a date with Molly, that day though he instead put thought into what was best for potential dangerous scenarios. He tried to pick clothes that were equal part comfortable for ease of movement, durable as who knew how long or what he might have to wear them through and protective for obvious reasons. Which is why he went with his leather jacket despite not wearing it so much in the hot weather, it was a tough material.

"Dude, don't you think you're going_ slightly_ overboard with this?" Albus complained at him after he'd spent over an hour going through his clothes, "What are you expecting to happen?"

"I don't know, that's kind of the point," Scorpius insisted and glanced between his two friends, who were still lounging around in their pajamas, "You two aren't even dressed yet!"

"We weren't going to go," Michael shrugged.

"How can you not go?! Don't you know something could happen!"

"Yes, you've told us. Many times," Albus pointed out tiredly to which Scorpius scowled, "Look, with this stuff with Abby I really don't feel like it, she'll be there and I can't even be around her right now."

"Plus it's the full moon in a couple of days," Michael added truthfully, "I'm already starting to feel a worn down and I don't even like Hogsmeade, I was just going to stay here and take it easy."

"But what if something happens?!" Scorpius protested, feeling like tearing at his hair, "You really want to be lounging around here in your pajamas while the Shadows are attacking?!"

"Molly never said this bad thing she saw actually _happens _on the Hogsmeade trip, just that it could prevent it or something."

"Dammit, you guys," Scorpius complained at them but they both shrugged dismissively, "Are you at least coming to breakfast?"

"Sure, if you're done with obsessively changing your outfit," Albus agreed and Scorpius left them to get dressed as he headed down to the Great Hall where Abby, Rose, Corin and Maurice were already sitting.

"Someone overslept," Corin commented as he joined the.

"Yeah, overslept…" Scorpius muttered as he started piling food onto his plate, trying to put on a lot in case he didn't get to eat for a while. Or should he _not _eat so much in case he had to move around a lot and it was impeding to have a full stomach? "Looking forward to Hogsmeade?"

"Sort of," Corin said with a flicker of disapproval towards the Hufflepuff table while Michael and Albus arrived, "Us Fifth Years were planning to hang out together this trip while Rose and Abby but Vern bailed on us for some big date with Olivia instead and Abby decided she isn't coming."

"Abby isn't coming?" Albus wondered in surprise, stopping before he got to a seat.

"I don't feel like it," Abby muttered, seeming to make a point of not looking at him before pushing away her half-eaten plate of food, "And I'm full. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," they chorused as Abby headed off while Albus and Michael joined them, Albus watching her go sadly.

"Well, Scor, I guess I'm going to Hogsmeade after all."

"I'm still not," Michael added.

They finished their breakfast, the small talk managing to grate on Scorpius' nerves as it clashed with his sense of imminent danger. After that, he had to bid goodbye to Michael as they headed outside to wait for their permission slips to be checked. Since it went in reverse year order, he couldn't help but notice that Sequoia wasn't there. His year was called up next so he, Rose and Albus could their slips checked then the Fifth Years with Corin, Orous, Maurice – despite taking Sixth Year classes, he was still technically a Fifth Year hence his prefect status and continued stay in Corin's dormitory – and Vern, also his girlfriend Olivia who he went off with while the rest of his cluster of friends stayed together.

"Aren't you meeting with the assassin child who tried to murder you today?" Maurice quipped after noticing Scorpius walking with them, due to the forced amputation – plus his moody withdrawal - and loss of a hand he used his necklace less to translate especially during times he needed his hands like in class or at meals where he'd missed their whole conversation on Hogsmeade plans.

"Martha's meeting me there later, I have time to kill so I'll be with my friends," Scorpius explained to him, Maurice nodded in understanding and let go of his necklace as they walked.

Scorpius still found himself feeling antsy, his eyes swiveling in paranoia as if he expected the Shadows to attack at any second. In truth, he kind of did. It wasn't an unpleasant day, it was hot and sunny true in the spirit of the start of June which wasn't the weather he'd associate with ominous attacks although he supposed it didn't matter the weather then the Shadow Master could suck the light out of the sky. With Cistro being dead, a different Auror was acting as a guard and didn't put Scorpius through any more hassle then everyone else. For once he was almost glad of the Auror presence, if there was an attack as long as they were genuine and not traitors it would be good to have them around.

Despite usually favoring the Hog's Head as a place to go for a drink, his friends headed to their preferred place of the Three Broomsticks. After a few nice Butterbeers and admittedly Rose and Corin doing most of the talking which was mostly about classes, Scorpius left to go meet with Martha outside the Shrieking Shack. He could only hope she actually did show up, still there was no sign of imminent danger just yet. He hovered around the Shrieking Shack, drumming his fingers impatiently on the fence despite it only just being twelve and there being absolutely no reason to think she wasn't going to show up and then the bad thing would happen because he failed to get the girl to be in Hogsmeade.

"Hey Scorpius," Martha's voice greeted him and he spun to see the girl in question standing there with a smile on her face.

* * *

_Carver did his best not to think about the Soul Eaters, he was just a kid and it wasn't really any of his concern or business. He just needed to focus on his nice normal life. Until they attacked again, this time Varanian was revealed to have been possessed – Carver guessed his ability was used to hide it, it explained his illness too – and had Specters possess everyone. While everyone was screaming and flailing in panic, Carver didn't fight it although Malfoy and several of his friends got away. The Specter passing through him was unpleasant but unlike everyone else, it must've recognized his Soul Eater status in his memories as it moved out of him, leaving him the lone unpossessed in an army of Specter-kids._

_He again was forced to rethink his status in the war, he didn't like every last person in Hogwarts. In truth aside from Kyle, he only really had a problem with people who James did but he felt like it was wrong to use them like this. And what of his friend? Would James have to be a Specter-possessed zombie for the rest of his life? And what did they plan on doing to the rest of the world? He sat there and cried, hoping that by some miracle the plan would fail. And he'd be damned but it actually did fail, he didn't know what happened but it did. _

_He was so relieved when it was over, he could've jumped for joy if he wasn't crying so hard and so were other people presumably upset from the brief possession or they were tears of joy. Who cared though? It was over, they were free. He threw his arms around James and clung to him tightly, holding him tight as if his life depended on it. When he pulled away he was so happy he could've kissed James, he literally and desperately wanted to smack his lips against James' which made him freeze in confusion. That… That was a weird thought. Why wouldn't he want to kiss James though? He was so incredibly handsome… Carver shoved those shameful thoughts and moved his arms firmly away from James, friends weren't supposed to think that about other friends. James didn't seem to notice though, he seemed unusually quiet but not tearful._

_"What is it?" Carver wondered of him as he dried his face._

_"I don't know," James admitted as he eyed the rest of the hall before averting them and looking almost ashamed, "I think those things that controlled us wanted to cause pain… Am I a bad person because I… I don't know, I felt like a part of me wanted to as well. Am I a bad person?"_

_"Of course not, you're perfect," Carver assured him and mentally kicked himself for feeling the attraction again, he shrugged, "It's probably just a normal side effect of those things."_

_"Yeah, you're probably right," James agreed with a hint of relief, "Glad that's over."_

* * *

Abby was miserable. She'd been happy – at least in regards to her dating life – with Sequoia then out of nowhere Albus had gone and ruined it, what the hell had he even been thinking? Who even came out of nowhere confessing their love for someone already dating someone else? And there she'd just thought he'd been upset about his brother or cousin.

She couldn't help but feel angry at him for throwing a wrench into her romantic life like that, especially it was Albus. He had no idea what love even was, how many times had he declared someone his soul mate? She had had a crush on him for awhile before yes and in truth she'd be lying if she said she'd never thought about him, if his confession hadn't stirred this back up. But she _was_ – she hoped still at least – with Sequoia, she was loyal to Sequoia because she loved Sequoia even if she had fleeting thoughts about Albus.

Sure, Albus was great, he was fun to be around and he made her laugh which were great qualities in a friend but Sequoia was different. He was mature and serious, he made her feel safe, he was stable and reliable which were qualities she wanted in a boyfriend. Life was unstable especially with the war, people could leave or die or just lose it for a while, she had to worry about that with friends and family so what she really craved in a boyfriend was security not childish fun. Albus… Albus was like a boy while Sequoia… Sequoia was like a man, she wanted a man. She didn't want to lose him, if she could just talk to him she was sure she could straighten this out. He wasn't making it easy though.

And that was why she found herself heading over to the Ravenclaw Tower, very much wishing August hadn't gone to Hogsmeade to let her into it. On the bright side, you didn't need a password only Ravenclaws knew but to just answer a riddle. On the downside, you still had to answer a riddle. Abby didn't consider herself especially smart and she certainly wasn't any good at riddles, after trying and failing to solve it she decided to wait around for a Ravenclaw to come by with the hope of explaining the situation and giving her the answer. No one showed up though because the majority was in Hogsmeade, forcing her to have to try puzzle it out some more. Eventually – and several hours later then she'd have liked to admit – she managed to get the answer correctly, allowing her entry.

She was slightly surprised to find their Common Room empty, she'd assumed Sequoia would be in there but presumably was in his dormitory instead. It had an airy elegant kind of air, the amount of bookcases also made her feel almost as if she was in a Library and should be quiet. Being in the Ravenclaw Tower when she had no real right to be there also made her feel like she also had reason to be quiet, in fact maybe this was a bad idea since she could get in trouble… Oh well, she was a Gryffindor so she was supposed to be reckless. Besides, she was already here so she may as well. Hoping she didn't run into anyone, she crept up the staircase to the boy's dormitory all the way up to the Seventh Years then it was just a case of weaving through the different rooms.

She was just starting to worry he wasn't there at all before she finally found her boyfriend, he was lounging on a bed with an assortment of text books strewn around him. He had one book in his hand, his drifting over the same area as if focusing on one line that he was reading but not truly absorbing.

"Sequoia," Abby called out nervously, Sequoia turned to her with his eyes widening in shock as he sat up and put the book down.

"Abby? What are you doing here?" Sequoia questioned of her as she walked over to him, rubbing her arm anxiously while hurt twinged in his eyes.

"I thought we should talk."

"What's to talk about? You love another guy."

"Not in that way!" Abby insisted determinedly and he looked dubious as she sat down beside him, "Which you would know if you had just stuck around instead of running off and hiding for three days."

"I have to study, I have my NEWTs," Sequoia muttered and gestured vaguely to the books scattered around while he averted his eyes.

"That's just an excuse," Abby said and went to touch his hand but he pulled away, "There's nothing going on between me and Albus!"

"How am I supposed to believe that?!" Sequoia shot out angrily while blinking back tears much to her surprise.

"Do you really feel that threatened by Albus?"

"How am I supposed to _not_ feel threatened by Albus?" Sequoia wondered of her, sounding genuinely as if at a loss for an answer, "He's Harry Potter's son, literally the most famous hero of our time. He so cheerful, confident and funny, not to mention smart the way he pretends to be bad at flying to blindside people with his talent as a Chaser. He's known you so much longer then I have, he wasn't mauled by a werewolf-"

Abby silenced him by pressing her lips against his passionately, desperately, trying to show her passion from him without words. He didn't pull away like she'd expected but she also didn't feel him kissing her back, at least not at first. She felt him tense but after a minute he relaxed into the kiss and allowed their lips to lock, she wrapped her arms around him and ran her fingers through his hair while he slowly encircled his own arms around her. She'd missed kissing him. She pulled away breathlessly but didn't break the physical embrace.

"You have _nothing_ to feel threatened by," Abby assured him as she caressed his neck, his sharp sapphiric eyes latching onto her own.

"Promise me… Promise me that you won't leave me for him," Sequoia whispered seriously and errant thoughts of Albus filtered through her mind, she forcibly shoved them aside.

"I promise," Abby said quietly and the last flecks of anxiety leaving behind his eyes.

She felt his body relaxing before his lips crossed the short gap between them to capture hers, kissing her more passionately. She returned the kiss readily and tightened her grip on his head, feeling the soft threads of hair through her fingers. Their lips parted and their tongues intertwined, saliva dancing between their mouths as they fell back onto the bed.

* * *

_Carver was also glad it was over, he was even gladder after learning that the Shadow Master had been put in a coma from the whole ordeal. With any luck they'd just stay that way. The return home revealed that his mum had had her baby, a second girl they named Emerald of all things. This one though, was not such a welcome addition to the family. Pegasus was bitterly unhappy and angry at his mum for giving him a second daughter, especially after he'd been 'kind' enough to name their first daughter after her and was already pressuring her about having another child since he needed a male heir as well as daughters. _

_It didn't contribute to his mum's mental state, she was clearly struggling caring for two babies and cried almost as much as they did. Carver tried to be annoyed at her but in this instance, he just felt pity. Especially after walking in to the nursery one of the days, she was just curled in a ball looking utterly disheveled with her hair in a chaotic mess sticking up at every angle, she was covered in baby throw-up and milk. She cried while the babies both screamed for attention while Pegasus was reading downstairs, Carver just went over and sat with her. He wasn't sure what to say to comfort her so instead, he just held her close and let her cry against his shoulder. He had to help out more caring for the babies, she needed support. _

_He did get to see his dad for a bit, he tried to talk to him about his concerns over the Soul Eaters but as usual his dad wasn't interested. He was sure the Shadow Master would be revived and in the meantime, welt like traveling for no reason leaving Carver to care for infants while still feeling confused over his own thoughts on his attraction to James especially since he did actually like girls. He kept hoping it would go away but it didn't, he thought he did but seeing James on the platform brought it all rushing back. Apart from that and some concern for his mum, he was glad to be back in Hogwarts though. It was interesting to say the least, with Varanian on the run and the Triwizard Tournament Calderon was the Acting Headmaster, there were Auror guards, the uncle he'd heard of but never really met was now teaching Transfiguration and he now had two extra classes. _

_He and James had both chosen Muggle Studies – it was notoriously easy – and Care of Magical Creatures since James knew the teacher. James' muggleborn cousin also joined his best friend's hate list for his father's sins. Transfiguration was what he found most interesting though, mostly because it gave him a chance to meet this uncle of his. The Soul Eaters seemed to be after Malfoy for some reason but otherwise were pretty quiet and their leader still comatose, he tried to put it out of his mind. That Christmas though he was surprised but delighted when James asked him if he'd like to stay with him for the holidays, he was overjoyed and could easily say that it was hands down the best Christmas he'd ever had. For once, he was actually sad to go back to Hogwarts rather than pleased. He was however upset to learn that both his mum and dad were expecting, he'd have not one but freaking two new half-siblings. _

_The rest of the year passed rather uneventfully in the grand scheme of things, until the end when he learned the Shadow Master had been revived. So much for his hopes of not having to worry about the war. He learned his dad had had a daughter named Rocio and when he got home, he met the newborn Amadeus, Pegasus finally had his son. And yet, he still wasn't satisfied._


	16. Chapter 16: Salvation

_**Parts (61-63)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 16  
**

Salvation

* * *

**Part 1: **Sparks of Plans

* * *

_And so Carver again spent his summer elbow deep in baby dung as he cared for his swarm of siblings with his still stressed mother, Pegasus as usual doing nothing. Well, he'd buy gifts for Meg as she was his favorite child and sometimes play with her but otherwise he'd be his usual kind-hearted self. Despite all his talk about a son he seemed to hate Amadeus most of all, claiming he wasn't a worthy to be his heir and that the boy was ugly, weak and stupid which he blamed his wife for and criticized her to tears for not giving him a suitable son. _

_Carver really had no idea what his problem was, Amadeus didn't seem any different from any other of his siblings as babies. James was also having a bad holiday it seemed, his uncle had died and he hadn't been able to invite Carver – or one of their other friends – to the Quidditch World Cup due to being punished for his 'bullying' behavior. Carver could empathize but he also couldn't help but feel slightly concerned by James' lack of remorse, he didn't like Dragon-breath either but he hadn't wished him blinded in one eye and would feel bad if he'd done what James did. He was sure his parents would be more forgiving if James showed this regret, which Carver was sure he had since he was such a good friend to him._

_All in all, he was relieved to be going back to Hogwarts for his Fourth Year and seeing James and his friends again. Just when he thought he'd settled into a happy Hogwarts routine though, it changed. His half-sister Viola started Hogwarts and befriended James' sister, she was quite proud to have 'placed' herself in a good position with the Head Auror's daughter - and mistakenly seemed to believe that was his reason for friendship with James - to be useful at some point while James despised her due to her Slytherin status. James really, really hated Slytherins and because of this he feared telling him she was his sister although he did managed to get James to leave her alone. He couldn't let his friends harass his sister, even if he wasn't fond of Viola in particular._

_Then there was romance. Some of his friends had dated before but this year the whole dating thing seemed to be increasing in popularity as their hormone levels rose, further confusing Carver and seemingly annoying James. When the others talked about girls they liked, James just looked at them like they were talking a foreign language. Carver on the other hand agreed with them, he found girls attractive but he also found boys attractive. Especially James. Were you allowed to like both? He wondered if it was just wishful thinking on his part to think James' lack of interest meant he was gay and maybe... just maybe Carver had a shot with him, James could just as easily simply not hit puberty yet after all._

_"For the love of Merlin can you guys stop talking about girls for five seconds?!" James burst out at them one of the days while they were in the Library, admittedly doing more talking then working._

_"But the first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up," one of them complained, "We need to have dates or we're going to look like complete losers and to get dates, we need to figure out who to ask. I'm thinking Chrissy or Sabrina, Chrissy's overall hotter but Sabrina-"_

_"Who cares about that crap?!"_

_"Everyone but you, don't you want to know what it's like to kiss a girl?"_

_"No," James scoffed determinedly._

_"Well then maybe you're just gay," another pointed out and James' face burned bright crimson._

_"I'm not gay!" James snapped and slammed his fist angrily onto the table, "I'm Harry Potter's son, his firstborn son. I'm not- Fine! I'll get a date for Hogsmeade. Who's hot again, Chrissy? I'll ask her."_

_"Good luck," he pointed out as James stalked over to the girl in question while the attention returned back to Carver, "What about you, Carve?"_

_"Eh, I'm just going to stay single for now," Carver brushed it off as he watched James talking to her, feeling like kind of a bad friend for hoping she rejected him so he'd still be single for Carver to hope about, "I don't see the rush."_

_"There!" James spat as he stormed back over to them and sat down, folding his arms, "I have a date, Chrissy agreed to go out with me so shut it the rest of you."_

* * *

"Thanks for coming," Scorpius said to her as she walked over to him, for once she wasn't wearing Hogwarts robes but a skirt and a starry top, she also seemed to have done something with her hair. He hoped she remembered why she was here.

"So now what?" Martha wondered of him curiously as she looked around, gesturing, "The sky doesn't seem to be falling yet."

"Erm… I'll show you around," Scorpius decided and she nodded in acceptance so they started walking through the town with him showing her around while nothing was happening. Though upon noticing several teachers around and seeing how Martha wasn't supposed to be there and all, he changed his mind, "Do you want to try some Butterbeer?"

"Sure," Martha agreed happily.

"I know this place doesn't look like much but I like it because it's quieter and the bartender's good," Scorpius offered in explanation as he recalled the Hog's Head wasn't the prettiest place to look at. He had her get a table while he got the Butterbeers for them, she picked the table furthest away in the far corner, "There are closer tables, you know?"

"It's best to sit in the corner from a tactical position, you have the whole view of the room so you're less likely to be snuck up on," Martha told him briskly before her cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment, "Sorry, force of habit."

"It's okay, I've been friends with Maurice for years and he's worse than you about that stuff," Scorpius pointed out truthfully and she seemed to relax slightly before drumming her fingers on the bottle nervously, he should probably say something, "So… How's classes?"

They talked idly for a while, both seemingly making a conscious effort to stay away from topics that made them uncomfortable so instead talked about mundane things that didn't really matter or that they didn't really care about. Scorpius was still waiting for the loud bangs of explosions and sounds of people screaming coming from outside, they never came. Maybe they'd need to be outside for things to happen? Deciding to take the risk of teachers, Scorpius took Martha back into the streets once they finished their drinks. He found there was _still _nothing happening though, just regular teenagers enjoying their trip out and regular Hogsmeade residents going about their lives nothing disastrous, no attacking. He sighed heavily.

"Maybe nothing bad is happened because my being here has already prevented it?" Martha wondered of him, catching on to why he was bothered.

"But we haven't done anything!" Scorpius burst out irritably, "There _has_ to be more to it than simply _being_ here, you haven't had an impact on anything that I can see."

"Maybe it's like a butterfly effect kind of thi-"

"Hi Scorpius!" a familiar female voice called and Scorpius turned in surprise to see Myriam, her dainty arms full with grocery bags.

"Hi," Scorpius greeted her pleasantly as he approached, feeling a painful twinge in his heart as he thought of Leebin but she was still his mother's friend and had been helpful to him, "Do you want some help with those?"

"No, it's alright," Myriam brushed it off, "I wouldn't want to interrupt your Hogsmeade trip."

"It's okay, we're not really doing much anyway."

"Then thank you," Myriam agreed with a hint of relief and allowed Scorpius to take some of them before continuing on the way back to her home, "I don't usually buy this much at once, I went to make lunch I realized I was flat out of everything. It's not easy to leave the house right now."

"Because of the kids?" Scorpius guessed and sadness flickered on Myriam's face as she shook her head.

"With the kids it was fine, I can just bring them but Flan… It's hard," Myriam admitted and seemed to notice Martha listening to them before Scorpius could ask how Leebin was doing, "Hi there. Who's your friend?"

"This is Martha, I'm showing her around Hogsmeade. Martha, this is Myriam, she's a friend of my mother's."

"Nice to meet you," Martha offered politely, looking as if she was trying really hard not to smile as they reached Myriam's house, "Do-Do you really consider me a friend?"

"Err… Sure," Scorpius offered uncertainly, feeling somewhat embarrassed as Myriam got the door.

Scorpius had passed by the Leebin house before but he didn't think he'd ever been inside it, from the outside it looked kind of like a misshapen wreck like quite a lot of the Hogsmeade houses. They had been nicer in the past, several destructive attacks later and he didn't think the Hogsmeade citizens had enough money to properly rebuild. Scorpius wished he could do something about it.

Myriam led them in to a very cramped open plan room, a joint kitchen, dining room and living room all in one with a doorway directly opposite presumably leading into the rest of the house. The right side was where Myriam directed them, there was a large wooden table taking up most of the space – which was where she directed him to deposit the groceries - with four chairs around it while kitchen counters and cabinets were wedged around the far and right wall. On the left side where large but comfortable looking couches almost the length of the walls they were pressed against, or rather the bookcases as they took up the length of the walls as well. There was a chess table crammed in the small space between the couch and the wall and a vat overflowing with kids toys in the opposing corner, in general there was a healthy assortment of children's toys scattered across the living portion of the room.

The rest of the Leebin family was there, little Lysel was bundled up in blankets on the left wall couch and propped up by pillows. The nearing full moon was taking its toll on him already it seemed as he looked rather ill, his ashen skin looked waxy and he was looking rather pitiful snuggled up cuddling a stuffed toy. Myriam went over to check on him as soon as she'd put down the shopping, the toddler hugging her tightly and Scorpius did feel his heart going out to them. Sol was the same age and had been born on the exact same day even, it was too easy to imagine his brother going through the same.

"No, Daddy! You don't eat them!" Maurene wailed and Scorpius turned his attention to the older of the Leebin children and Leebin himself.

Maurene had all of her father's features but her mother's daintiness, she was six or seven now and seemed to be trying to play chess with her father. Any glimmer of hope Scorpius had that Leebin was doing okay in his insanity was immediately crushed seeing as he was trying to _eat_ one of the chess pieces, the Knight being eaten protesting against this before Maurene snatched it away looking hurt. Scorpius felt hurt just looking at Leebin, he was missing several of his fingers and the hands left were buried in layers of scars. He also no longer wore glasses, making his cyan eyes stand out more but also more obvious how vacant they were. He was no longer wearing glasses and looked somewhat underweight. He cocked his head to one side at his daughter, smiling as if he didn't understand what he'd done wrong.

"Gazaborgahi!" Leebin babbled excitedly but incoherently, drumming his fingers together, "Magahaga lee na maba sa!"

"No, bad Daddy, these are not for eating," Maurene insisted, looking rather upset while Leebin continued to smile at her blankly, "This is chess, remember that you taught me."

"Mablogi," Leebin announced randomly before crashing his arms through the chess pieces, sending them flying across the room. He bounced up and down excitedly, clapping his hands as he watched them, "Nostaraga! Nostaraga! Makagago roshi tamunu gobanahatet."

"Daddy," Maurene moaned with the hurt showing in her eyes as she started to pick up the pieces, Scorpius was sure the pieces weren't what bothered her though but rather the change in her father's attitude.

"It's not his fault, dear," Myriam offered gently as she made to help her daughter while Leebin got up as if bored, skipping around his own feet in a circle and giggling with delight.

"He… He's really not doing so great, is he?" Scorpius wondered sadly as Leebin started chewing on his own sleeve, genuinely upset to see someone he'd trusted and respected be reduced to… this. All because he'd failed.

"He's really not," Myriam sighed unhappily and finished picking up the chess pieces, depositing them back onto the board before putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Why don't you go clean up before dinner?"

"Okay Mummy," Maurene agreed and headed down the opposite door while Myriam went back over to her husband, leading him to the kitchen area and getting him to sit down.

"Are you thirsty, sweetheart?" Myriam asked, seemingly rhetorically as Leebin continued gnawing on his sleeve. She poured him a drink of water and sat him down to drink it, "Would you two like a drink as well as a thank you? I got some pumpkin juice."

"Sure," Scorpius said and Myriam went to get the pumpkin juice from the paper bags while Leebin instead of drinking, dipped his hand into the water and started licking the water off his hand, "He's worse than I thought."

"I know," Myriam sighed heavily as she poured the drinks for them and they sat down on the table, "At first I thought I could handle it and that being at home again would help, he hasn't gotten any better though. I think I have to send him to let St Mungo's take him, he's got the mental state of an infant with the energy of a toddler except he doesn't learn."

"What happened to him?" Martha in confusion, Myriam and Scorpius both averted their eyes unhappily.

"He was tortured into insanity by the Shadows," Scorpius admitted quietly while Leebin randomly threw the water in his glass into his face, shrieking with delight at it while Martha's scowl only deepened.

"Normal Cruciatus victims aren't like this though."

"They think it's to do with because he was using Occlumency to resist or something," Myriam told her uncomfortably, Martha cocked her head to one side with interest.

"Did they try using Legilimency on him?" Martha asked curiously, surprising both Myriam and Scorpius.

"No. I mean, they tried but it just blasted them back and upset him," Myriam told her and Martha leaned back thoughtfully, "Why?"

"Because in that case, he may still be in there," Martha said as she stood and put her hand on Leebin's forehead, he glanced up at her and she captured his eyes in her own. They widened before she closed hers, his did so in unison and started to twitch but she held firm.

"What are you doing?"

"Martha?" Scorpius prompted after a minute before she removed her hand and opened her eyes, Leebin tossed his glass to the floor idly.

"He can be saved," Martha announced, causing Myriam's eyes to widen in shock.

"How do you know?" Myriam questioned, sounding somewhere between dubious and desperate.

"A healthy mind is made up of different layers, like emotions and memories, thoughts et cetera. In an insane mind, the layers are no longer separated and become a jumbled mess, it's hard to get anything from it but it is really easy to recognize. His mind isn't a mess, it's a fortress. He's not insane because it's a jumbled mess, he's insane because he's sealed his mind away and there's pretty much nothing controlling his actions."

"What- Why didn't the Legilimens know that?"

"Probably because they tried to _invade_ his mind, they tried to see inside his mind not look at it as a whole like I did. Legilimency and Occlumency are skills not widely taught and even fewer have true mastery."

"But you know this?" Myriam prompted in surprise probably because of her young age and Scorpius recalled her mentioning something about these things once before.

"My dad was extremely talented in these mental arts, he taught me," Martha explained with a shrug while Leebin giggled, shaking his head and sending droplets of water flying everywhere.

"Is it possible to save him?"

"Of course, his consciousness is in there somewhere. Someone just needs to find it."

"Can you do that?" Scorpius wondered of her hopefully.

"By myself? Probably not," Martha admitted, causing his bubble of hope to burst for a second, "But _together_, we could probably do it."

* * *

_Carver's mood took a dark turn now that James was dating, he couldn't help the jealous rage he felt whenever he saw him with her. He didn't even like the girl herself, she was pretty whiney and not very bright. James didn't seem to like her either, in fact she seemed to annoy him even more than she did Carver yet he still stayed with her. He found himself hanging out with his uncle more when she was around just to get away with his friends and to learn from him things Hogwarts didn't teach, Pyrrhus was undeniably off the wall but he also was undeniably talented and actually quite good to be around, Carver was learning a lot. Unlike his dad, Pyrrhus listened to him when he talked and unlike his dad, Pyrrhus also didn't seem to have that supportive Soul Eater mentality despite being there on work for them._

_"They're evil bastards who want to talk over the world," Pyrrhus told him outright while demonstrating a spell to conjure an illusion, "Of course I hate them. But the world is a bad place anyway so we may as well stick with them, they'd kill us if we tried to leave."_

_"True, although I wouldn't say the whole world is bad," Carver admitted but Pyrrhus shrugged._

_"The world is bad, it's a fact and you'll realize that someday. Okay, now you try," Pyrrhus said as he finished demonstrating before finishing and turned to him with a smile, winking, "Get it fast enough and I'll teach you to take someone's wand and turn it against them, it's something I invented myself and with a little – well a lot - of practice it'll be extremely useful."_

_Carver enjoyed his time with Pyrrhus although Viola viewed him as a worthless lunatic who was inferior to the 'true' Soul Eaters, it was nice to work on advanced techniques actually around his skill level since the Training Tower had given him a head start on certain magical aspects putting him above his peers. Christmas came and went, for once he actually liked having time away from James since he hated seeing him with Chrissy now. Carver stayed a loyal friend though, not complaining or criticizing although James himself still didn't seem to like her despite continuing to date her through the rest of the year._

_Everything just seemed to happen at once, Pyrrhus informed him of the plan to take over Hogwarts from the inside and enlist Hogsmeade as another part of the Soul Eater's werewolf army so warned him to avoid the town as he'd likely be better off in the castle. However, James also informed him that he'd finally decided to dump Chrissy._

_"I tried, I really tried but I just can't stand her," James admitted to him, "I hate her personality and because she's so awful to be around I don't even find her attractive, kissing her feels wrong. I've had enough, I only stayed as long as I have to shut people up but I feel like a year is long enough."_

_And so Carver couldn't get him to stay away from Hogsmeade, not without seeming horribly suspicious since James was quite determined to do this. He was so anxious he didn't sleep the night before and he felt so torn about warning people, his heart thundered all day as he hung around the town with his friends – minus James who was busy with dumping Chrissy - waiting for the inevitable. When it finally came, he quickly realized his training – both at the tower and with Pyrrhus – put him in a better position than most students and even adults to defend himself from the werewolves. He was horrified by the destruction and carnage, it tore at him guiltily. He knew they'd attack but… well he'd thought it would be more like the Specters, that they'd just scare people before rounding them up and turning some later. He hadn't thought people would really be hurt, he hadn't thought people would die. And what of Hogwarts? He'd thought that would just be taken over and run by the Soul Eaters but now he thought otherwise and worried for the younger years. It made him sick to his stomach to see the dead, he could've stopped this. He should've stopped this._

_Thankfully people were arranging to help, getting residents and students to caves. Carver waited until his other friends were on their way before tearing through the town in search of James and only stopping when distracted helping another, he was so relieved to find him and got him to safety. It also made him feel guiltier, his friend had survived while so many had died when he could've prevented it. He wondered if Pyrrhus had known it would be this bad, the Hogsmeade part was really all down to Greyback. Carver was glad the plan failed at any rate and it did leave with the unshakable determination to not become a Soul Eater himself._

* * *

Pyrrhus Florian flew around Hogsmeade in frustration, fluttering his little moth wings frantically as he searched the town for his target. He couldn't find Jack/One, he had tried but failed as the freak's phasing teleporting ability made it impossible to follow him so the best he could do is put complex enchantments on places they might go to alert him if Jack/One showed up. He knew Jack/One and Antonius still needed Calderon's location so he'd put the charms where he might go to get the information, namely Harry Potter and the Ministers' houses plus some of their close family in case he tried to go for leverage, Alaric didn't seem to have anyone but when he was hospitalized following their attack a muggle woman had visited him so he'd also put a charm on her house as she had to have connection to him to visit him.

The problem was even if Jack/One showed up there, Pyrrhus wasn't sure he could take him with his specter abilities. He'd barely gotten that Patronus Charm off last time after all, how as he supposed to compete with someone who could teleport with more much ease then apparation and just needed to reach out his hand to destroy his soul? He didn't like his odds and if he didn't succeed then he'd fail Oathan, he'd either end up dead, with his soul destroyed or just a life of suffering. Pyrrhus had to save him, a more thought out plan would do better than fighting a losing battle. So he had come up with a plan, Jack/One still cared for his son as did Antonius since the two were friends so he figured if he used Michael as leverage then they'd be less inclined to betray and kill them.

Hence why he'd painstakingly found out the date of the next Hogsmeade trip and was flying around looking for Michael, however he was having trouble locating the boy. He'd seen several of Michael's friends but not Michael himself, in fact he'd even seen Martha but she hadn't noticed him and he couldn't appear without alerting Scorpius. As the day wore on with still no sign of Michael, Pyrrhus decided he really had no choice but to confront Michael's friends on his whereabouts. He tried to find Scorpius and Martha but he'd lost track of them in his search so he decided he'd have to settle for Maurice, Orous, Albus, Rose and Corin who were walking together. He felt a pang of guilt seeing Maurice, his arms both hung by his sides as he walked but only the right had a hand poking out of the sleeve. Still, it was that or death. Although since he hadn't gone through with it was kind of pointless anyway, sadly he thought he'd burned that bridge for nothing. He didn't even care if the Shadow Master died right now, he just wanted his son to be safe.

He landed in a nearby currently empty alleyway to transform back to a human and quickly cast a Disillusionment charm on himself, he then conjured an illusion of his moth animagus form. He needed to get them away from Hogsmeade or people would retrieve the Ministry too soon, he couldn't hope to speak to them if he was busy fending off Aurors. He magically guided the illusion over to the group walking by, his plan worked as expected but it did still make him feel sad to see the spark of hatred in Maurice's eyes when he saw the moth. It reminded him of Alzay. Maurice whipped out his wand and tore after the moth illusion, his friends ran after Maurice in confusion while Pyrrhus ran after them unnoticed in his disillusionment as he guided the moth out of Hogsmeade and into the empty forest area.

Once satisfied they were far enough away from the town, Pyrrhus used Maurice's deafness to his advantage and stunned the boy from behind. He didn't expect the others to me much of a challenge, however the part-giant turned much faster than he'd expected with his wand in his hand. He was a victim of still needing verbal magic though and Pyrrhus disarmed him before he could utter a spell, hitting the wand with a windy charm to shoot it further away than usual to account for the taller longing reaching arms the kid had. Orous dropped to his brother while Rose turned to face him, both taking out their wands intending to revive Maurice and attack him respectively but he waved his wand to summon their wands off them. Albus was standing closest to him yet fumbled for his wand slowest of all and Pyrrhus plucked it from his grasp, tossing it aside. Albus swung his fist at him instead, Pyrrhus pirouetted to avoid it and in the same fluid motion caught Albus' legs with his foot to sweep them out from under him sending the boy sprawling to the floor. Pyrrhus had taught all three Potter kids during his tenure as a professor and Albus was easily the least talented of the bunch.

"Would you people calm down? I'm not here to attack anyone," Pyrrhus insisted and held up his hands in protest of his innocence but did keep his wand in hand, "I just want to talk."

"Tell that to Maurice," Rose spat out glaring at him while Albus sat up, rubbing his head where he'd hit it while falling.

"I would but I'm pretty sure he wants to murder me which makes communication difficult."

"Well he's not the only one!" Albus burst out also angrily as he got to his feet, looking very much as if he still wanted to punch him, "You murdered my best friend's brother!"

"That's hardly relevant right now, I'm trying to _save_ a life not take one right now," Pyrrhus told them quite truthfully, seeing no reason to lie, "So if you could just direct me to where your buddy Michael is, I'll leave you to continue enjoying your weekend."

"Never!"

"Michael's not here," Orous said at the same time, still crouching by his brother's side.

"What do you want with Michael?" Corin questioned also at the same time.

"We're not telling you anything," Rose also said at the same time.

"One at a time, _please_," Pyrrhus complained and pouted as he folded his arms, "And what do you mean Michael's not here? Why would he stay behind on his Hogsmeade weekend? Who does that?"

"Michael does that," Corin scoffed as if it were a well-known fact, "He hates Hogsmeade after being turned here and he's weak from the upcoming full moon so he didn't feel like coming, you really should've done your research."

"Corin, don't mock crazy psychos," Rose hissed at him.

"Yes, don't!" Pyrrhus barked at them irritably while internally panicking at his crumbling plan to get Michael for leverage.

He kicked a rock in frustration and tugged at his hair as he started pacing, feeling his heart thundering as his breathing became rapid. There was only a few days until the attack, if they didn't get the Scepter by then for all he knew then Jack/One would consider the chance gone and not care about getting the Scepter anymore so he'd kill Oathan. He _had_ to save his son. But what? Aurors guarded the outskirts of Hogwarts, including between Hogsmeade and checked students. As a spell had been invented that could tell if someone was currently under the Imperius Curse, he couldn't risk using it on one of the kids to get Michael for him and use it on him too if he didn't comply. Even the Aurors weren't stupid enough to _not _scan for that kind of thing. He supposed he could threaten them into helping him but that was pretty risky, too many variables and it'd likely look pretty suspicious. He didn't like his odds at breaking into Hogwarts anyway, not _also_ leaving with Michael anyway.

"Dammit, I need to save my son!" Pyrrhus screeched at no one in particular and kicked another rock, catching sight of Corin reaching for his wand. He jabbed his own at the part-giant and zapped his hand away with a weak jolt of lightning that still had him snap back, "No wands for you!"

"Wait, what do you mean save you son?" Orous questioned, a new kind of worry crossing his face while Pyrrhus fidgeted anxiously, "As in the one that's my half-brother?"

"Of course, that's my only son!" Pyrrhus spat at him, very literally feeling the spittle flying from his mouth, "Jack/One took him because I tried to save the stupid kid, that's why I need his own stupid son as leverage because I can't take him alone with his stupid spectral powers!"

"Like we believe that," Albus scoffed and folded his arms determinedly.

"What if we just help you?" Orous said at the same time at him, earning looks of astonishment from his friends and Pyrrhus included, "Did you even think to ask?"

"Why would we help _him_?"

"Because that kid is my brother. And maybe it can save Antonius too."

"Good luck, Antonius made it perfectly clear that he doesn't _want _to be saved," Pyrrhus stated bitterly, earning some confused looks himself as he thought on the suggestion and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Idly noticing he needed a shave and in fact probably looked quite frightful from utterly neglecting his own self-care and needs lately, he also realized that he really had nothing to lose at this point, "If you helped me that could work, you kids can cast Patronus right? They repel him but I only did one once and I don't think I could focus properly on doing it again _and_ saving Oathan at the same time."

"Orous, he's lying to you," Rose told him in her know it her stupid whiney know-it-all voice, she opened her mouth to speak again but he waved his wand and transfigured her lips into a zip that was shut. She gave a muffled scream and clutched her mouth in shock.

"Zip it!" Pyrrhus snapped at her before realizing how literal it was, he couldn't help but laugh. A giggle welled up inside him and escaped through his own lips, he tried to stop himself but he burst out laughing. He laughed. And laughed. And laughed. So hard he doubled over clutching his sides at his own hilarity with a tear in his eye which he wasn't sure had been intentional or not, the others just looked at him in confusion minus the now crying Rose. He stopped laughing, "Don't you get it? I said _zip_ it. And her mouth is a _zip_."

"We get it, it's just not funny," Corin said, putting a comforting arm round the much smaller girl due to is freakish height as he was now around seven feet tall.

"Why are you even laughing if your son has been kidnapped apparently?" Albus wondered incredulously, Pyrrhus rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet still with his arms wrapped around himself. It was a pretty horrible thing to do, pretty random too and for nothing really.

"I don't know!" Pyrrhus moaned and burst into tears.

He fell to his knees, sobbing and rocking himself back and forth to sooth himself as he often had done as a child to comfort himself. Just that errant thought made him recall his harsh childhood and he cried harder, pushing at his stinging eyes with his palms as if it could possibly push away the memories. And he thought of Oathan, what was to stop Jack/One or Antonius hurting his son while he wasn't there? He hit the ground in frustration at his inability to save him or do anything right, also noticing Corin reaching for his wand again which he zapped away again.

"I SAID NO WANDS, DAMMIT!" Pyrrhus screamed at him as he jumped back to his feet, blinking away his tears and the gravelly feeling in his eyes from his tiredness. He also noticed how empty his stomach felt, when was the last time he ate? Or slept? No! He needed to focus, not fall apart because of his plan failing. He hit himself repeatedly in the side of his head as he choked on a sob, "Focus, focus, focus!"

"Orous, this guy's _completely_ insane," Albus whispered to Orous, drawing Pyrrhus' attention back once more, "You can't seriously buy this crap he says?"

"I'm not insane, you're insane!" Pyrrhus yelled stupidly and tore at his hair again for a minute before trying to calm himself as he continued, lowering his arms again, "And it's not crap its _true_! My son is gone and I _have_ to save him."

"We'll help you," Orous assured him as he finally stood, holding out his palms in a non-threatening way, "Just tell me more. Without you know, yelling or crying or laughing."

"We're not helping that maniac!" Corin spat with a murderous glare glittering in his black eyes, still with his arm protectively around Rose.

"Damn straight we're not!" Albus also burst out in agreement, "Orous, can't you see he's _nuts_? This alleged 'son' is probably a spoon he misplaced."

"MY SON IS NOT A SPOON!" Pyrrhus cried, upset at the insult to his son and feeling more tears flying from his eyes, "He's a real child, he's a _good_ child not evil like you clearly are. Your brother is _sick_, he's a sadistic monster and I bet you're just the same. And since you're not helping me, I really have no reason to let you live."

"No!" Orous shot out and jumped protectively in front of the Potter boy who looked upset, "I won't help you if you murder my friends or my twin!"

"I wouldn't kill Maurice," Pyrrhus scoffed, scowling at the accusation of killing the boy he'd mentored even if Maurice _did_ hate him now. Good, Pyrrhus thought he was probably pretty hateable. Even_ he_ hated himself, "He's not even conscio-"

"Not the point," Orous interrupted and Pyrrhus supposed he was right, they were running out of time and he needed to refocus again. He quickly summoned Orous' wand to his wand and held out his free hand to Orous.

"Okay I'll leave them alone, just come on now and I'll fill you in."

"Orous, no!" Albus protested.

"Don't do it!" Corin added while the still zipped Rose's eyes bulged as if horrified at the thought of him leaving as well.

After a moment's hesitation though, Orous' face became a steely mask of determination and he willingly took Pyrrhus' hand. His friends cried out again in protest but Pyrrhus was already disapparating with Orous.

* * *

**Part 2: **Following

* * *

"Orous, no!" Albus whined in frustration as his albino friend was disapparated with the crazed murderer, he slapped his hand to his face unhappily, "Great, now Florian has Antonius _and_ Orous. What was that boy thinking?"

"I have no idea," Corin admitted with a sigh as he retrieved his wand, muttering a counter-curse to fix Rose's zipped mouth.

"I can't believe Orous was stupid enough to believe his delusional lies!" Rose burst out as soon as her lips were unsealed while Corin went over to crouch by Maurice to revive him, Albus got up and he and his cousin went to get their own wands, "And I can't believe that delusional nutjob sealed my mouth shut! I mean what kind of sick, twisted-"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Maurice screamed in fury as he was revive, jumping to his feet with his wand in his hand as if he'd never been unconscious as his oceanic eyes darted around wildly searching, "WHERE IS PYRRHUS FLORIAN?!"

"Calm down, Maurice!"

"WHAT?!" Maurice yelled before reluctantly grabbing at his necklace, "I SAID WHERE IS-"

"He's gone!" Corin shot back at the deaf boy, earning himself a murderously dark look.

"YOU PEOPLE LET HIM GET AWAY?!"

"Stop yelling, not all of us are deaf!" Rose chastised him and Maurice threw her a look of rage instead that actually had Albus take a step towards her protectively, Maurice was actually pretty scary when he was angry and looked as if he might really hurt someone.

"What happened?" Maurice said instead, every syllable shaking with barely contained anger, "Where is Pyrrhus Florian? And for that matter, where is my brother?"

"Florian was on this crazy rant about needing help to save his son," Albus offered in explanation, "And Orous stupidly volunteered to go with him so they disapparated, no idea where they-"

"YOU LET HIM TAKE MY BROTHER?!" Maurice cut him off in a furious shout and violently kicked at a rock in frustration, "YOU PEOPLE HAVE BLOODY WANDS, WHY DON'T YOU USE THEM!?"

"Why don't you _not_ be knocked out?" Rose countered testily as she folded her arms and Maurice lurched at her as if he was going to attack her for a second before backing off, his lips still curled into an enraged snarl, "Florian is tough, we're just teenagers. Calm down, we can tell the Aurors and they can go after Orous."

"Because they do such a great job saving people," Corin muttered to himself bitterly and unhappily, a flicker of worry betrayed in his black eyes. For once, Albus was forced to agree with him.

"No," Maurice shook his head although he did seem – slightly – calmer, Albus could practically see the cogs turning in his mind, "You say he disapparated away? And this was a short time ago?"

"Literally minutes."

He figured Maurice was thinking of something but he didn't see what the deaf soldier could possibly do though, if he had any idea where Florian would be then he'd have said so already to save Antonius. Without warning, Maurice yanked up his stump-arm sleeve and started ripping away the bandages. He then whirled his wand over the stump and a black, molten substance appeared. It writhed before falling onto the stump, crawling over his skin and reforming into a perfectly shaped hand and wrist. Albeit jet black as if he was wearing some kind of strange metallic glove, he thought it looked creepy.

"That's not recommended," Corin commented lamely.

"I can't be dealing with this, I need one hand to hear with my necklace and to duel with my wand. If we're going to be in a danger zone, I need to be able to do both more fluidly," Maurice explained, he had no way of hearing but seemed to guess they'd have questions, "And now…"

"What do you mean by 'we're going to be in a danger zone?'" Rose wondered as Maurice briefly seemed to test his hand, clenching it and unclenching it as if to make sure it worked.

Her question was quite useless though. Despite having just said he needed to use his necklace and wand more fluidly with a conjured second hand, he hadn't touched it and instead had moved on to making complex motions with his wand as he walked around the clearing. Albus wasn't sure what he was doing but he knew he was doing something magical, he could hear a faint thrum and felt oddly tingly now.

"Okay," Maurice said finally, grasping his necklace with his black hand to address them, "Fortune is in our favor, I just picked up Florian's trail. I know where he just apparated to so we can follow him, Albus and Rose are of age now so the Trace is broken and you have your apparation licenses so you can go where I tell you."

"That's insane," Rose protested while Albus had an odd squirming of his insides in disagreement, Maurice threw a dark look at her once more, "We need to tell the Aurors so _they_ can go after him."

"They're useless!" Maurice snapped, "We can do much more than they can. And even if they weren't useless, by the time we'd get them the trail will be cold."

"You just want revenge."

"Of course I want revenge but that doesn't mean I'm not right and while my revenge may not be urgent, securing Antonius and Orous' safety is. We don't have time for this."

"I'm in, I'll go and help," Albus blurted out before he could stop himself, earning a mad look from Rose now, "What? He's right and the clock is ticking, what would our parents have done?"

"Well what would they tell us to do now?" Rose countered.

Albus was forced to agree it was what his dad would say, he didn't think it was the right thing to do. He had to do this, because his friends needed him, because it was in his blood, because they were the only ones who could and hey, even if it failed horribly and he died then at least he'd not feel humiliated over Abby's rejection anymore. He couldn't turn his back on Antonius, he couldn't even turn his back on Orous despite his stupid mistake and he couldn't just let Florian get away after the things he did.

"I'm still in," Albus reaffirmed and Corin surprisingly nodded in agreement which had his girlfriend pout, "You can warn the Aurors if you want."

"Sorry, Rose, but I want to help my friends and I've read about this tracking magic, he's right about time being of the essence," Corin added and Rose sighed heavily.

"Fine," Rose agreed with irritated reluctance as she threw her arms up in the air in defeat, "If you people are going then I'm not staying but for the record, I still think this is a bad idea."

"Okay then let's go," Maurice announced impatiently and jabbed his wand at him then Rose in turn, Albus suddenly had a vivid flash of a city street, "That's where he went, take us there. The street is so busy he's probably going through several points to throw off trackers but I should be able to pick up the trail there if we're fast enough."

"Okay," Albus nodded in agreement, feeling his heart twisting up with a mixture of anxiety and adrenaline as he touched Maurice's shoulder and disapparated them.

* * *

_Carver was sad for his uncle being found out and having to flee but still glad for the plan to fail, he was actually glad to be home from that stressful place. Sort of anyway as home was still terrible, his little sisters were now sticky fingered toddlers who his mother let run wild because she was too exhausted and heavily pregnant to bother. Pegasus also had seemingly decided that Amadeus was ugly and had the baby wear a sack over his head, albeit with holes to see and breathe. Pegasus was his usual awful self, he hated Pegasus._

_At least his dad decided to take an interest in him that year, apparently frightened by the fact he'd been at risk in Hogsmeade. Carver was glad to get a break from them, it was an actual break as he wasn't learning in the Training Tower just getting to see his family which was good considering his decision to not become a Shadow. Stephan was no longer there, he was an adult now and more involved in real activities. Ethan had passed the test and must've been too as he wasn't around, Viola was staying with her mother so the princess was no longer commanding his dad's attention. Instead he was left with the likes of Martha, Andreas, Davin and got to meet his baby sister Rocio. The difference to his maternal siblings was highly noticeable, they were much better-behaved and mature as a result of the Training Tower regime. Martha especially seemed mature for her age, always watching out for her younger siblings. It reminded him of Ethan, he missed Ethan._

_"Any chance I'll get to see Ethan while I'm here?" Carver asked to Andreas one of the days when he was trying to teach the boy chess, something he regretted as the eight year old was trouncing him._

_"Ethan's here, you can see him if you want to. Check," Andreas told him with a disinterested shrug as he shifted his Knight to put Carver in check, his intelligent eyes focused on the game despite kneeling on the chair childishly, "Just make sure you don't let him out."_

_"What do you mean?" Carver wondered in confusing, distractedly moving the wrong piece._

_"He has to stay in his room, he's not allowed out," Andreas said and grinned brightly as he checkmated him, "Checkmate, I win."_

_"Forget that, what about Ethan," Carver growled, "Why is he being treated like a prisoner?"_

_"I don't know, people don't tell me stuff. Want another game?"_

_"No, I want to see my brother! Show me where he is."_

_Andreas sighed but nonetheless jumped down obediently and led to where Ethan apparently was, before being called away by a passing teacher and Carver impatiently unlocked the door, he ran in to see his brother. Ethan was lying back on the bed but sat up where he saw him, his grassy eyes looking tired. He was both taller and thinner then Carver remembered, he embraced his brother happily._

_"Carver, it's so good to see you," Ethan said with a weak smile as he held him close, "It's been too long."_

_"Yes," Carver agreed as he pulled away, "I have so much to tell you. But first, what's going on with you? Why are you locked up here?"_

_"Didn't anyone tell you?" Ethan wondered and Carver shook his head, Ethan looked at him for a long moment, "It's because of not wanting to be a Soul Eater."_

_"They locked you up because you don't want to do it?"_

_"Yes… It's horrible," Ethan told him as his expression shifted sadly, "It feels like forever since I got to go outside."_

_"Well come on, I'll take you outside. Who cares what they think?" Carver decided determinedly and Ethan gave him a watery smile as he let himself be led out with Carver._

_"This is nice," Ethan said quietly as they walked, Ethan taking the lead but seeming in better spirits._

_"We should go to dad, see if he can sort this out and get you out of here," Carver offered, not wanting to leave his brother here as a prisoner, "Does he even know?"_

_"Oh he knows. Why don't you do that? I want to see the roof, see the sky."_

_"Erm… No I think we should go together," Carver insisted, somewhat disturbed by how cheerful and unconcerned Ethan seemed, "One quick stop on the roof then and we go talk to Dad?"_

_"Okay, I won't need long anyway," Ethan agreed and put Carver's mind at ease somewhat as they went up onto the roof, Ethan smiled widely as the breeze sifted through them. He then turned to him and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for this freedom, Carver, I love you."_

_"Erm… Okay," Carver muttered unsurely, now doubly confused by his brother's behavior as Ethan stepped out onto the parapet, "Ethan, be careful on there or you'll fall."_

_"I know," Ethan told him before stepping backwards off the tower._

_"NO!"_

* * *

"So what- what do you need?" Myriam wondered as if daring to hope while Leebin dipped his hand into Scorpius' half-empty drink without warning, starting to lick the pumpkin juice off his fingers when he removed it. Scorpius moved his glass further away in case Leebin decided to throw it over himself again, the man didn't seem to notice though.

"Somewhere to lie down," Martha said, "The three of us will be unconscious and it will probably take a while, time doesn't work the same way inside people's minds."

"Okay, you can use my room. This way."

Myriam stood and took Leebin's sleeve to guide him, Scorpius and Martha followed as she led them through the closed door. It opened into a narrow and slightly crooked corridor that Leebin idly ran his fingers over the walls, the first two doors seemed to be the kids' bedrooms if the color changing plaque reading 'Maurene' was anything to go by. Opposite to that was 'Lysel' was painted on with some poorly drawn shapes decorating it, almost as if Lysel had been allowed to decorate it himself. There was a door on the far end and to right was another, Scorpius would guess it led to the bathroom as it was the far door Myriam led them in.

It had the same kind of cozy but cramped feeling of the front room, there was a small double bed with a handmade quilt over it and a window seat to the left. Some drawers, a wardrobe and another bookcase were scattered to the right, along with a long mirror in the corner. There was a healthy scattering of photographs around, mostly seeming to be of family and friends too if the few with his mother and Sol were anything to go by.

"Well this is it," Myriam announced and let go of Leebin, started to cleaning him up, "Anything else?"

"No, we're good," Martha brushed her off, "Just give us some privacy because like I said it could take a while, and whatever you do don't wake us up. No matter how long it takes, just don't try to wake us. Our minds will be interconnected and yanking us out could do some serious damage, you have to let us come out of it on our own."

"Okay," Myriam confirmed and looked a little worried, "Are you sure you want to do this? I want Flan to get better but not at the expense of your health, this seems dangerous."

"I'm sure," Scorpius agreed readily and glanced at Martha.

"I'm in if you are," Martha shrugged it off.

"Okay, I'll um… I'll leave you to it then I guess. I have to get back to my kids anyway," Myriam offered as she gave one last wistful look at Leebin before turning to leave, "And thank you, for doing this."

"It's nothing," Scorpius brushed it off as Myriam left, closing the door behind him before he turned back to Martha, "So now what?"

"Now we need him to be unconscious, come on Flanny," Martha said and switched to a childish voice when speaking to Leebin, taking his arm and guiding him to the bed, "Lie down now, isn't the bed nice and comfy?"

"Mublubla hai," Leebin commented cheerfully.

Martha helped him to lie down on the bed, he didn't seem to want to lie down though and tried to get up. She placed her hand on his forehead and caught his eyes, Leebin's eyes immediately fluttered closed and he slipped into a slumber. Martha took a deep breath.

"Okay, now it's your turn," Martha announced and gestured for him to lie down in the bed beside Leebin, Scorpius nervously did so.

"So how does this work?" Scorpius wondered uncertainly as Martha clambered onto the bed and knelt in between them.

"Well, I have to put your consciousness into his mind and maintain the link while you search for his consciousness inside his mental fortress."

"You won't be with me?"

"I'll drift in and out," Martha admitted reluctantly, "I'll do my best but I'll need to but effort into maintaining the link so I probably won't be able to be with you always, it'll be up to you. But it'll be easier for you anyway, having a connection to the person helps and you know the guy. Now even though I'll be doing most of the work, Occlumency is still important. It keeps your own mind together so stay good and focused, if not you won't be able to traverse his mind and I'll have to save you too."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded and lay back comfortably.

"You ready?"

"Yes."

"Then I need you to close your eyes and think of Leebin, memories of him is better especially if he's speaking, especially if it's showing you his personality. Think of that and only that, clear you head of everything else," Martha commanded and Scorpius did as instructed, he felt a hand on his forehead and was aware of himself slipping into unconsciousness…

* * *

_"What were you thinking?!" his dad screamed at him furiously, Carver could only hang his head and try hide his tears. Ethan was okay, someone lower down had magically halted his fall and saved his life but it still had almost resulted in his death, "Ethan is suicidal! He's only locked up because I want my son to live and you not only let him out but take him to the roof?! You almost killed your brother!"_

_"I didn't know," Carver croaked and looked to his dad, seeing he was on the verge of crying too, "You never told me."_

_"Worrying you seemed pointless!" his dad insisted, glaring at him angrily, "Pack your things, it's time to go home. I've seen enough of you this summer."_

_"Can I see-"_

_"NO! YOU CANNOT SEE ETHAN!"_

_Carver trudged off unhappily to pack, hurt and shaken by what had happened, what he hadn't known about his brother. Martha came in to console him, kindly helping him pack. His dad returned not long after that to take him back home, Pegasus greeted him with a smug smile on his face and his wand in his hand._

_"What's the matter, boy?" Pegasus taunted him, "You that awful your daddy and stupid siblings got sick of you already?"_

_"Shut up about my siblings," Carver snapped at him immediately darkly, feeling defensive over them. Especially Ethan. Pegasus smirked at having struck a nerve._

_"Language, boy, you just earned yourself a spanking," Pegasus told him and something in Carver snapped angrily, he was sick of this, he was sick of Pegasus and he was not in the mood._

_Without thinking he swung back his fast and hit his stepfather in the face as hard as he could, the man would've fallen if not for the wall behind him that he fell back into. Pegasus angrily raised his wand but still enraged and empowered by his success, Carver grabbed his wand arm and twisted it as hard as he could. There was a sickening snap and Pegasus screamed in pain, his wand fell from his useless fingertips. Carver was bigger and taller than Pegasus now after all, he was outmatched and if Carver wasn't bound by his age then he was sure he could outmatch his stepdad with wands too._

_"No," Carver said, forcing the words through gritted teeth, "I'm done. We are done. I'm not going to take your crap anymore, whatever you do to me I'll do to you and if you go whining to the Ministry that I broke your wrist then I'll sure as bloody hell go whining too. Understand?"_

_"You can't threaten me," Pegasus snarled and Carver twisted his wrist further, Pegasus screamed again and met his eyes murderously but Carver didn't flinch._

_"I said do you understand me, boy?" Carver stated darkly to his stepfather, preparing to twist again when Pegasus showed no sign of wavering._

_"I understand," Pegasus growled and Carver let him go, Pegasus slumped to the ground immediately without Carver holding him up. Carver walked away from him and returned to his room without further hassle._

* * *

Michael leaned back comfortably in the bath, the prefect's bathroom specifically. Since virtually everyone old enough to be a prefect went away to Hogsmeade, it was the perfect time to get in without being disturbed. He could be alone and relax his tired – because of the approaching stupid full moon - body as much as he wanted, it was also the perfect time to drink since his friends weren't there. He had a glass and his wand, he could just keep conjuring the water and transfiguring it to alcohol. He swirled the liquid around before taking another gulp, the taste not even bothering him anymore. He needed a drink.

His quiet moment of solitude was disturbed however by the arrival of someone else, he glanced in their direction and recognized her as Roxanne Weasley who was a Beater on the team. She had a pretty heart shaped face, light brown skin, chocolate brown eyes and dark hair rather than the typical Weasley red. She blushed though when she saw him, averting her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Roxy apologized, "I didn't realize it was occupied."

"It's okay, I should be getting out anyway. I didn't realize it was so late that everyone was back," Michael said, noticing the slightest of slurs in his words, "And if it makes you feel any better, I'm wearing trunks."

"Oh right, good," Roxy muttered quietly, blushing again and keeping her eyes away from him, "And it's not that late, I have NEWTs real soon so I figured I should come home early to get some studying in. Then I thought I may as well enjoy a bath in the prefect's bathroom while everyone was probably still in Hogsmeade before I got to it… Studying isn't very fun."

"Guess not," Michael commented disinterestedly as he got out of the bath, pulling on his robe.

"Y-You know I didn't see you in Hogsmeade."

"That's because I didn't go," Michael stated dismissively as he pocketed his wand and picked up his glass.

"Oh, I had hoped to see you," Roxy said, sounding disappointed and he scowled in confusion at what she could want him for.

"Why? Quidditch is done for the year."

"It wasn't about Quidditch."

"Prefect stuff?"

"No."

"Then what?" Michael questioned in confusion as he approached her, noticing her face had gone even redder. He should probably just let it go, apparently it didn't bother her anymore, "Well it's all yours, Roxy."

"Thanks," Roxy said as she turned back to him, quickly averting her eyes as she blushed once more before having to do a double take and her eyes widened in shock, "Is that alcohol?"

"So what if it is?" Michael demanded irritably, "I can drink if I want to."

"It's against the rules."

"And you care about rules?"

"No but I care about you doing something to hurt yourself," Roxy protested and frowned at him, "Drinking alone in a bathroom doesn't seem healthy."

"I don't care if it's healthy or not," Michael scoffed and her eyed her distrustfully, trying to gauge whether it was likely she would get him in trouble or not. He supposed it didn't really matter if they did, since his friends were in Hogsmeade there was no way they should be able to.

"You used to care. About people, about things, about doing the right thing. Now you don't care about anything," Roxy told him sadly and disappointedly, he opened his mouth to protest but she'd already turned her back on him, "If you want to drink alone in a bathroom then go ahead, Michael."

"I will," Michael muttered as she left him there, he shrugged it off and went back to his drink.

* * *

_The rest of Carver's summer was actually not so bad, his words seemed to have worked as Pegasus actually left him alone. He barely spoke to him and merely glared whenever he saw him, his mum on the other hand was furious at him for attacking Pegasus. Knowing Pegasus who was milking his victim status, he wasn't sure his mum even knew the truth of their exchange. At any rate, he didn't care and was still focused on being upset about Ethan anyway. What was the point in trying to convince her? _

_He'd never had a good relationship with his mother and he doubted he ever would, she was too wrapped around her husband's finger to care what he had to say. She was also busy as she gave birth to Pegasus' fourth child that summer, a second son they named Damien. Now he had two girls and two boys, he really shouldn't have a reason to complain about his children. Ironically, Carver thought Damien was an especially ugly baby unlike Amadeus who had to wear the sack for his 'ugliness' despite being perfectly normal. He doubted Pegasus really cared, he just liked being difficult. He spent a good deal of time flying, it cleared his head and he thought if he was good enough then maybe he'd get on the team with James._

_Carver was glad to get back to Hogwarts, the work would be a welcome distraction from his misery and guilt about Ethan's suicide attempt. It was his OWL year so he thought it would keep him busy especially, he'd forgotten there'd be a new Headmaster though. The new guy hardly instilled him with confidence, he was both dubious and intrigued by the counselling sessions though. It did strike him as a ploy for information and something unlikely to work but… well, the idea of being able to talk to someone about his problems was nice in theory. James managed to get himself suspended early on but Carver was pleased to make the Quidditch team, even if it was just as a reserve. _

_His counseling session started off with some unimpressive oddball named Leebin, Carver decided to test the waters on how useful this counseling could be and if they were really only after information. So reluctantly opened up to him about his confusing feelings of sexuality, it had absolutely nothing to do with the war and was something he wanted help over. He decided it was a something he could risk sharing. Leebin didn't try to change the subject to war, instead actually listening to him and offering advice which made Carver think he was likely bisexual and he was okay with that. He found it rather freeing being able to be so open with someone, without having to worry about how he'd react like he did with James. _

_Leebin had encouraged him to try dating other people to see how he felt, it helped him to think he had a plan and got a date with a nice girl he liked, Mia, who was quite kind and pretty. James returned in time, seeming in quite a bad mood these days. Carver also learned from him about Michael's stepdad had been arrested, he'd abused him and his mother. It made Carver feel incredibly guilty for all those times he'd harassed him, he'd had a tough time at home and it was something Carver could relate to even if his situation was a little different. After his success with Leebin, he started to open up to him about other things like that guilt, his poor relationship with his parents, having to deal with so many siblings and even Ethan's suicide attempt. Of course he did have to be more careful with what he said then, still Carver liked having someone to talk to. Someone who actually listened._

* * *

**Part 3: **Lost in the Depths of the Mind

* * *

Scorpius opened his eyes and found he was staring up at an overcast sky, dark clouds hovered over him with flashes of lightning through the cracks in the clouds the only illumination he had, he could hear it crackling ominously above him. He was definitely outside, he could feel the icy breeze slicing against him. The skies opened, a sheet of rain was pelting down and soaking him, his clothes sticking to him and letting the cold seep into his bones. He was so cold. And thirsty, despite the falling his throat felt raw and parched. He was tired too, so tired his eyes were physically sore yet he couldn't close them.

"Focus, _Scorpius_!" Martha's voice snapped and he sat up in surprise, seeing the red-headed girl standing before him oddly untouched by the rain.

Scorpius looked around in confusion, seeing he was sitting on long damp grass on the edge of a cliff. He also realized he was in shadow, he turned his head and saw a massive fortress looming over him. Layers and levels of solid brick, statues of threatening looking eagles sticking out of the sides.

"Where am I?" Scorpius wondered in confusion as he glanced back to Martha.

"Leebin's mind," Martha answered shortly and gestured to the fortress, "It's called a mental fortress, it's an advanced Occlumency technique that he must've used to help cope with the torture. You imagine your mind like an impenetrable fortress and seal away different thoughts, emotions, memories or feelings, seal them even from your own consciousness unless you choose to access them."

"How does that help resist torture?"

"If you keep doing that with your pain it stops it becoming overwhelming, only works on fresh pain though or rather the memory of it. Wouldn't help against the constant pain and discomfort he was left in," Martha explained as she folded her arms, "It would also help against the Legilimency attacks, the basic Occlumency you know involves clearing your mind so they have no way in but with this way everything is sealed away so even if his mind wasn't focused on being blank they wouldn't be able to get in because the information is sealed away even from himself unless he's actively accessing it. And then even if he wasn't initially focused, he'd be able to throw them out before they managed to navigate through his mental fortress to find the information they want."

"Won't he throw us out then?"

"No, he managed to seal away his own consciousness and set his fortress to instinctively lash out at intruders trying to invade it. I linked with his mind rather than attacking it so it's not seeing at us as invaders or lashing out at us, his consciousness could throw us out but since that's what's lost and we're trying to find… It would be good if he did because it would mean he's back. Long as we don't attack his mind, it'll be fine."

"So… So what to do we do?" Scorpius wondered in confusion, "This isn't like people's minds, usually I just cycle lost between memories."

"You need to get inside the fortress, his mind including memories sealed away in there. You're not looking for memories though, you're looking for his consciousness."

"How will I know his consciousness?"

"He'll manifest like himself like you are, he'll be self-aware and talking to you. He'll either he lost and you'll have to help him leave the fortress or he'll be confused and you'll have to explain to him that he's trapped in his own mind," Martha told him and Scorpius stood up, glancing at the fortress which looked rather impenetrable, "And stay focused, don't become lost in his mind too. You need to be aware of you are, don't let his mind infect yours like you were before."

"Infect mine?" Scorpius repeated at an utter loss and Martha scowled at him.

"It's freezing cold outside the fortress in his mind, I'd guess because he physically cold when he was imprisoned and created the fortress. You feeling cold or even being wet means you're letting his feelings be entangled with yours, you can't allow that to happen or you'll lose yourself. It's _not_ raining, this is _not_ physically real, this is all inside his head. You have to remember that. Use your Occlumency, keep your mind your own. Do you understand?"

"Um… not completely," Scorpius offered truthfully but it didn't stop the rain hitting him and glanced at the fortress, "So how do we get inside his mental fortress?"

He glanced back to Martha and jolted in shock, seeing she was gone. He spun around, looking in every direction but he saw no sign of her. He even glanced over the cliff, despite hearing the water crashing against the rocks he saw nothing. No sign of Martha. He supposed she had said that she wouldn't be a constant presence, still he wished she'd told him how to get inside before leaving. She'd said not to attack so blasting a hole in the wall was likely not the best way to go with this, was there a door somewhere?

Scorpius started walking around the fortress in search of a door, staying close to the brick wall of the fortress and keeping his eye out. He walked and walked and walked, and walked. There was no sign of a door though, there wasn't even any sign of any difference between any part of the wall in fact. It was the same, Scorpius realized, it was exactly the same and seemed to stretch out infinitely. What if it did? Scorpius scowled in worry and glanced up, it was just a blank stretch of wall. It was far too high to be able to climb or jump, he wasn't even sure what he would climb or jump to anyway considering he didn't see anything resembling a window or door. Did he need to dig? Jump off the cliff? What was he supposed to do?

He put his hand on the wall, hanging his head as he rested against it. Feeling the rain dripping down his face from his hair which Martha insisted wasn't real, feeling the stone beneath his fingertips which… also probably wasn't real. Scorpius looked up, if it wasn't real then there was no real wall so he should just be able to go in if he wanted to… Right? He pushed gently on the wall and a heavy oak door swung open, revealing a long corridor of the same stone walls and a flagged stone floor although it was mostly hidden by a long blue rug lined with bronze. Scorpius stepped inside before turning back to close the door, only to find it was just enough stretch of corridor.

He looked around, seeing to his left and right the corridor extended looking exactly identical to ahead and behind of him. He also saw there were doors lining the walls, doors that were completely identical. Arched blue doors with a bronze eagle perched on the stone around the edge, at least they didn't seem to be infinite. After walking forwards for a bit, he saw after five there was another crossroad corridor with the same doors leading off. Every five there were corridors of five that led to corridors of five where five it led to corridors of five… No wonder Leebin had gotten lost in here. He supposed that might've been part of the protection though, even if someone did get into his fortress they'd be lost in an endless maze themselves of corridors and doorways.

Scorpius supposed he should probably try some of them, maybe they actually led somewhere or had Leebin inside. He approached a random door and cautiously took the bronze handle, biting the bullet he pushed open the door. He found it led into a dungeon and he was surprised to see it wasn't empty, there was a white haired man he didn't recognize sitting against the wall and the other two were Leebin and James. Leebin was chained to the floor while James stood over him brandishing his wand, he seemed to be using some kind of whipping spell because every time he brought it down another bloody welt appeared on Leebin's body as he screamed in pain with a voice that sounded hoarse. He was already soaked in blood, his body buried in the painful wounds. James didn't seem to care though, he just kept inflicting wound over wound over wound without a hint of slowing down. He already knew this wasn't Leebin's consciousness, it was just a memory.

He stepped back sadly as he didn't want to see this, feeling a burning hatred for James well in his gut. James gave a cry of rage and abruptly kicked him, seemingly frustrated with his lack of progress as he kicked Leebin while he was down. He jabbed his wand down at Leebin who screamed intensely, his broken body writhing from the Cruciatus Curse, twisting in ways it didn't look like it should be possible to twist. Scorpius stepped further back, looking away. He knew he should probably close the door but he didn't really want to see Leebin's suffering, he could hear him screaming still. He reached forward to close the door, except the opposite seemed to happen as he heard doors opening followed by Leebin's screams.

Scorpius looked around in surprise, seeing all the doorways in sight had opened. He quickly closed the door but it snapped back open, Scorpius ran from it to the one opposite which depicted a very similar scene and tried to close it but it also snapped back open. Leebin's cries of pain echoed around him from all the open doors, Scorpius started to run to get away from it, suddenly missing the closed doors. Every open one seemed to be scenes of his torture, mostly in the same room and mostly with James but there were sometimes others dressed in Shadow robes. Wherever he ran the unpleasant memories chased him, then he realized they weren't chasing him anymore. The doors were gone and there were just Inferi all around, clawing at him and making inhuman cries. Scorpius found a large spiraling staircase and ran onto it, the same blue rug with bronze trim and more bronze eagles on the end of the bannister.

He raced onto it, trying to get away from the Inferi with height rather distance as their sickening skeletal discolored bodies struggled to climb because their limbs were all twisted and broken. They stank, the putrid stench of rotting flesh made him want to retch so he ran. Finding – somehow unsurprisingly – that he was now on a staircase that seemed to have no beginning or end, he also didn't seem to be putting any distance between him and the Inferi. If anything they were gaining on him, he could feel their bony fingers clawing at him. Finally one grabbed his wrist, he cried out in fright and immediately swung with his fist to punch it away. The creature gave an oddly human sounding yelp of pain, causing Scorpius to look back in surprise.

He saw the Inferi he'd punched hit the ground, he also realized it wasn't an Inferi at all but Leebin. They were all Leebin, their wounded bodies were mangled from the torture. The one he'd punched looked at him with tear-filled eyes, a look of hurt and confusion as if he didn't know why he'd attacked him. Scorpius was hit by guilt, after all he wanted to help Leebin not hurt him. Scorpius reached out a hand to help him up, the Leebin took it and as it did all the Leebin's seemed to consolidate into the one he was helping up. There were as a gust of wind from behind him and he saw the top of the stairs was suddenly there with a large door, a massive double doorway that was open and blowing wind at him. He felt a rush of anger and hatred towards the injured Leebin for some reason just as it got to its feet, he pushed it away and it fell over the side of the bannister.

Scorpius scrambled over to the side to see if it had died. He then had to grip onto the banister for dear life as the staircase seemed to start to fall, plummeting lower and lower through the darkness. He almost screamed in panic before wondering if it was even possible for him to die while lost in Leebin's mind since it wasn't real, he wasn't really here. The staircase halted abruptly, somehow not affecting his momentum in the slightest. Down it led into darkness but up to a landing not a door like before, he walked up and found himself in another corridor of doors like before except this one had maybe slightly darker shade of blue color. He wished Martha would reappear, he really wanted to go home now. What had possessed him to try this in the first place? It was insane and he was exhausted, he just wanted to sleep.

He pushed through one of the doors, hoping to find a bed before freezing for a minute in panic at the thought of it being another dungeon. It wasn't though, it led into a kitchen. There were white units and corridor beyond them that led to a front-looking door, a staircase barely visible leading up the other way. There was a wooden table in the center with four chairs at it, a table that bore a remarkable similarity to the one in Myriam's kitchen. There was only person in this room and it was Leebin, this one younger than the present as he stood as a rather gangly teen. In fact, he looked around Scorpius' age. Leebin took a deep breath before tearing open an envelope, Scorpius caught a brief glimpse of the Hogwarts seal and walked in to peer over his shoulder at the letter. It was his OWL results, he'd not done well.

**_Flannery Logan Leebin has achieved:_**

_Arithmancy: D_

_Astronomy: P_

_Care of Magical Creatures: A_

_Charms: D_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts: D_

_Herbology: A_

_History of Magic: T_

_Potions: P_

_Transfiguration: T_

He'd done terribly, in fact worse than terribly as he'd _failed_. He'd never be allowed to continue most – if not all – of those subjects for NEWTs, not unless he repeated his OWL year to get better results. He'd failed, he was a failure. Leebin choked on a sob and scrunched the paper up to his face, he'd tried. He'd really tried, so hard but still he failed, he failed so badly. Scorpius felt a wave of sympathy hit him, his own eyes tearing up. He was a failure too, he'd failed to save Antonius, he'd failed to save Calderon, he'd failed to save Leebin, he'd failed to apparate, he'd failed to win the Quidditch Cup, he failed at magic, he'd failed to help Michael, he'd failed at his OWLs, he'd failed to stop the Shadows, he'd failed to save his dad and now he was lost in someone else's mind. He'd failed. He was just a failure, a worthless failure. He _was_ too stupid to be a Ravenclaw like everyone said, he was such a loser.

He sat down at the table, burying his face in his hands with the letter crumpled as the weight of his failure crashed against him and the tears fled from his eyes. He cried, he couldn't stop crying. His uncle was right, he was just a terrible waste of space. Why couldn't he do anything right? He wanted to help so badly but he just failed, he just kept failing. He didn't know why, it wasn't from lack of trying. He wanted to help, he wanted to save his friend, his cousin, the world. But he didn't, he couldn't even do a simple apparation or pass a few tests.

"Scorpius!"

He looked up in surprise at the mention of his name before immediately scowling in confusion, that wasn't his name. His name was_ Flan_. Wait no, he was pretty sure it was it was Scorpius. No, that didn't sound right, it had to be Flan. No, he was definitely Scorpius.

"You're Scorpius!" the voice insisted as if she could read his mind and he turned to face the redheaded pre-teen girl… Martha, that was it and he was Scorpius. They were just inside Leebin's head. He then found he was standing beside her, he looked around and saw teenage Leebin still crying over his results at the table, "You need to focus, I told you. Don't get mixed up in his thoughts or memories like this, your mind is not a physical thing so if you don't focus it'll get mixed up like that and you lose track of your identity."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize," Scorpius admitted nervously, feeling rather hopeless, "Can't you just find his consciousness? I'm really struggling here."

"It's hard to keep this link in place, ironically it's much harder than Legilimency. I can't keep it up and search for his mind so unless you have a secret knowledge of the mind, you have to do it," Martha insisted and Scorpius sighed heavily, her expression flicked to one of concern, "Look, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. We tried, we just couldn't f-"

"No!" Scorpius cut her off desperately, thinking of how he'd just been upset over his failures not five minutes ago, "We can't just give up. I won't let him down, I won't fail again. I've been failing a lot lately, a lot of the things I want or try just seem so unreachable but this is actually something within my grasp. I'm not giving up. I just don't know how to find him in this place."

"It's _not_ a real place," Martha reiterated as she folded her arms, "And think about it, if you were him and you wanted to hide in your mind then where would you go?"

"I don't know, this place is insane."

"Of course it's insane, if the guy was in a healthy mental state then he wouldn't be lost in his own mind."

Scorpius glanced back to the teenage Leebin, he was drying his eyes and trying to smooth out the letter because he had to be strong for his mother, keep going. He supposed she was right, he went to look back to her but found she was gone yet again. He sighed heavily and backed out of the room, closing the door on the memory behind him.

Now what? He was going to get nowhere by wandering around aimlessly, he had no idea where everything was or how to navigate. According to Martha none of it was even real so he was just wandering around in… nowhere? He did need to change his tactic, he wanted to get out of here. It was cold and strange.

He had no idea where Leebin would go if he wanted to hide in his mind, Scorpius didn't even know where _he_ would go if it were him. He didn't think he'd want to be in his own mind, not with the bad memories he had in there… Maybe happy memories he'd hide in? How did he get to Leebin's happy memories? Maybe it was like the door, he just needed to will it. He tried to focus, willing happy memories too him…

The whole world suddenly swirled around him into a dark mess and the floor crumbled beneath his feet, he would've cried out as he fell into the darkness but he seemed to be floating there instead. Fireflies started to emerge around him, gently plodding through the air. Scorpius scowled, he'd wanted happy memories not fireflies. The fireflies bobbed over to him and he realized they weren't fireflies at all, they were small orbs with images playing out on them like a muggle movie. One on the fritz as the images flickered, he also became aware of hearing quiet echoy sounds coming from them.

"It's a girl!" one of the voices cried and he saw one of images was a Healer handing Leebin a bundle of blankets, he smiled lovingly down at it with tears of joy seeping from the corners of his eyes.

"Make it go higher, Flan!" another voice called and Scorpius shifted his attention to one of Leebin as a young child, maybe four or five running through a field with a similar aged boy with brown hair and a kite trailing behind them.

"Will you marry me?" Leebin's own voice said and Scorpius spun hopefully at the thought of having found him, it was stupid though as the voice had the same echoing quality as the others and there wasn't any reason for him to be saying that. Sure enough, he located the memory he was speaking in.

"Of course I'll marry you!" Myriam laughed and happily threw herself into his arms, Leebin held her close and looked evidently relieved at her saying yes.

"Focus, dammit!" a gruff voice barked and Scorpius quickly found it coming from a memory of a teenage Leebin being smacked around the back of his head by his uncle, he was confused why it was a happy memory before he noticed Leebin blushing as a younger Myriam was walking passed them nearby in what looked like St Mungo's and in fact his uncle was dressed in Healer robes. Hogan scowled as his nephew as he scoffed, "She's _way _out of your league, Flan. Girls aren't into worthless losers who fail so bad they flunk out of Hogwarts."

"Daddy!" a child's voice cried happily and he turned to another of a child Leebin rushing to his father – the eyebrow scar gave away which otherwise identical twin was which – as he stepped out of the fireplace, Logan scooped him up in his arms.

"Daddy!" a girl child's voice cried happily and Scorpius turned to see an almost identical memory, except Leebin was the one returning home and Maurene was the one being scooped up. Their house looked nicer than it did now, more spacious and less cobbled together.

Scorpius found it bittersweet rather than happy, obviously it was nice that he had happy memories but considering how far removed from that he was now it was sad. He realized simultaneous both that that was how he'd feel about his own memories and that was why Leebin wasn't here, he wouldn't want to torture himself with memories of better times. Without warning there was a grunt from behind the memories and they suddenly were knocked aside by an Inferi, he gave a groan and swiped at the again to cast them aside.

Not an Inferi, he realized once more, the same tortured Leebin form with the emaciated, twisted body a mess of wounds. Wounds that a real person wouldn't be able to walk around on as most of its limbs were clearly broken, most importantly the ones you needed to walk in the first place. It swung its ruined arms at the memories, scattering the firefly-like things so they flew away and he was once more back in the stone corridor with the blue and bronze rug. Except this time, there were no doors.

"Leebin, it's me," Scorpius told him as his felt his feet touch the floor, the way it stared blankly at him assured him that it wasn't his consciousness but rather… well he didn't know what it was. A nightmare? A bad memory?

Where _was_ Leebin? He wasn't in good memories and he wouldn't be in bad memories either, if anything he'd be getting away from them. Would he just be in feelings? Good happy, positive feelings? Was that even possible? Couldn't hurt to try it. He focused on wanting to positive feelings and a door that hadn't previously been there opened, a white mist seeped out and slowly started to fill the endless corridor.

Scorpius found himself started to feel inexplicably happy, almost as if he'd been hit with a Cheering Charm except this was much stronger and more natural. The Leebin moaned again and swung its arms through the mist, it swirled around them and dispersed up into the suddenly large high domed ceiling above them. It took his joyful feeling with it, he sighed once more feeling extremely tired.

"Guess that was a stupid idea, huh?" Scorpius commented to the Leebin even though it didn't seem capable of understanding him, whatever it was. It said nothing, just looked at him with eyes that didn't look as if they were really seeing him.

He wasn't in his memories, he wasn't in his feelings, he didn't think he'd be in his thoughts or dreams – if that was even possible – to do their chaotic nature. Scorpius wouldn't want to be there, he didn't think Leebin would either. He looked at the Leebin before him thoughtfully, all those horrible wounds…

If he'd been through that, he couldn't blame Leebin for wanting to escape the pain in his mind… He'd just want to go to some secure part of his mind, somewhere sealed off, somewhere safe where he wouldn't be in anymore, where no one could hurt him anymore. If he'd constructed some kind of bizarre mental fortress, was it not possible he'd construct some kind of… safe room?

He focused once more, trying to think of some kind of safe part of Leebin's mind. The world around him lurched and Scorpius was abruptly thrown off his feet as the world went white, he groaned before feeling ran pelting down on him and realized he was now laying on dirt not a rug. Had he somehow managed to go backwards?

He stood up and jolted in pain as he felt something prick him, he struggled up and saw he was surrounded by a mass of brambles. Thick thorny vines were erupting from the ground everywhere, meandering their way through the space all around him in every direction and as far above him as his eyes could see. He also realized the other Leebin was still with him, standing there immobile.

"If this is his safe place then it's not very safe," Scorpius said to the Leebin as he rubbed where a thorn had pricked him, "I think maybe my mind navigating skills aren't as good as I thought, this would be difficult to get through…"

Scorpius trailed off as he said it, it _would_ be difficult to get through. Maybe that was the point? The thorn thicket was a defense, it was hard to get past it so he felt safe hidden behind it. It was worth a shot, too bad he had absolutely no idea which direction to. Once again, there was nothing to distinguish any direction. Not that he needed a direction since nothing was real apparently, that didn't really help him though.

He started heading forwards, deciding it was as good a direction as any and made the most sense since thinking of the safe place had drawn him in this particular spot. He considered drawing his wand to get rid of the brambles, at least to clear his path but he thought that might be construed as an attack and get him kicked out.

Instead, he was forced to push on and to do his best to avoid being stabbed by thorns by ducking and weaving. It didn't work no matter how hard he tried, they just kept pricking him and it didn't help he kept slipping in the wet muddy ground. He heard a grunt and turned to see the Leebin was limping along with him, shuffling uncaring through the field of pain and swinging his arms to bat them away.

Scorpius wondered why he would be so callous, especially since he was so injured already and surely this was just aggravating his wounds. Not for the first or likely last time in his life, Scorpius wished he was good at healing magic. If it was even possible to help… whatever this Leebin thing was since it wasn't what he was looking for.

Except the Leebin wasn't being injured, he realized. The thorns slicing it were having no effect, nor was it getting wet from the rain just like Martha hadn't. Because none of it was real, it wasn't really raining and there weren't really thorns there. He tried telling himself that as he ploughed onward with them still battering him, he closed his eyes thinking maybe if he couldn't see it would help him realize that.

At first he didn't think it did, he could still feel the thorns slicing him and the thick vines bumping into him, still feel the rain falling on his skin. But he kept at it, just thinking of getting through to find Leebin to help him. Slowly though and very gradually the amount of times he was hitting them seemed to diminish, he was being pricked less and less until finally he was just walking unhindered.

He forgot about the thorns eventually and finally stopped, wondering why he was even walking when he was so tired that all he wanted to do was lie down and rest. He opened his eyes and saw he was standing on the edge of the thicket, the rain still pouring down but it just had no effect. He was looking at a house that reminded him of Leebin's, at least when it had been nicer a few rebuilds ago but not entirely like that either. The windows all had shutters, shutters that were all closed.

"Leebin?" Scorpius called, hardly daring to hope as he approached the door. It could just be another memory but… this felt different somehow, he went to open the door but found it locked. Was that a good sign? It had to be a good sign, what kind of safe place didn't have a door that locked? He banged on it instead in desperation, "Leebin? Leebin, are you in there?"

"Scorpius?" a startlingly familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

And it wasn't the random gibberish of the insane or the echo of a memory, it the true voice of Leebin. Scorpius had found him, he'd finally found Leebin's consciousness. He heard movement and the unclicking of a lock before the door opened, Leebin was standing there. He looked exactly as he had the last time Scorpius had seen him before is disappearance except not tired, the correct age, unscarred and healthy with his ovular glasses back in place and his reddish-brown hair shorter with something of a natural unruly upwards spike.

"I can't believe I found you," Scorpius said with relief while Leebin looked at him in confusion.

"What are you even doing here?" Leebin questioned in bemusement.

"I came to find you, to-"

"Get inside!" Leebin cut him of suddenly in panic and Scorpius heard a groan before Leebin pulled him quickly inside, Scorpius turned just fast enough to see the other Leebin was there and lunging at them as if to attack. Leebin slammed the door shut on it and quickly locked it, quickly locked the several layers of locks climbing the door in fact, "You shouldn't be there, Scorpius, it's dangerous with those Inferi."

"Inferi…" Scorpius repeated in surprise that Leebin hadn't realized the Inferi was himself.

"Yes," Leebin confirmed, seeming very certain of this fact as he moved further back into the room before giving him comforting smile, "But it's okay, you can stay here. It's safe here."

Scorpius turned to take in the rest of the room, he wasn't sure if it was a living room or a library. Book shelves lined the walls to his left and right, literally from ceiling to floor and taking up the length of the wall between the two far doors leading off it and the walls. The wall opposite seemed only not to have books because it was taken up by a massive fireplace with a bronze eagle statue perched overhead the roaring flames, two windows were either side of it and shut like the front ones. The floor was leveled as a step down in the center was a small table upon which rested a jug and goblet along with a book, there were two comfortable blue armchairs resting comfortably, the thick carpeted floor was blue with a bronze trim which was identical in color to the rugs lining the corridors earlier.

"What is this place anyway?" Scorpius wondered in confusion as Leebin wandered back over to the armchairs, Scorpius followed and Leebin turned back to him with another look of confusion as he scratched at his chin.

"I don't know," Leebin admitted after a minute's thought before brightening again, "But it's safe here, I assure you. There's everything you need, comfortable bed, bathroom, food and water plus this great book collection, everything I've ever read is here."

"Ever wonder why that is?" Scorpius questioned as Leebin took a seat, looking puzzled again before shrugging.

"I've wondered but I have no idea why. Would you like a glass of water? It's very refreshing and _not_ scalding," Leebin offered as if this was some kind of miraculous instead of regular thing.

"No, I don't want a drink. We need to leave this place."

"We _can't_," Leebin insisted as the smiled was wiped off his face, looking horrified at the thought, "It's not safe out there, the Inferi will tear you apart and that's assuming you can even get through that forest of thorns. No, Scorpius, it's best just to stay here where it's safe, they can't get in here."

"Leebin," Scorpius began, not sure how to break this to him as he sat on the other chair which was angled towards Leebin and took a deep breathe, "This place is _not_ real, we're inside your head right now."

"Inside my head?" Leebin repeated slowly as his cyan eyes shifted around the room, his expression becoming disheartened, "I suppose that would explain why there are only books I've read here…"

"It would," Scorpius nodded in confirmation, "My friend made this mind connection so I could find you, snap you out of… this."

"I guess deep down I've always kind of suspected that…" Leebin said before swallowing, "So you're really you?"

"Yes. And I'd like to wake up now so we need to get out of here."

"Right," Leebin muttered and looked down, wringing his hands before looking back up to him, "There is some important information about the Shadows and Florian that I know should relay to you, things you need to pass on."

"Tell me after we get out of here," Scorpius told him, very desperate to be back in the real world and Leebin averted his eyes uncomfortably.

"Well um… that's the thing, I think that I'm going to just stay here so… you can just go on without me."

"_What_?!" Scorpius burst out in shock and anger, Leebin looked further away ashamedly, "I came all this way, through all that chaotic screwed up stuff and you want to _stay_?! What part of _inside your mind_ don't you understand?!"

"I understand but… You- You know it's _safe_ in here."

"_Safe_?!" Scorpius spluttered out, "You want to stay in here because it's _safe_?! What about your family?!"

"What about them?" Leebin asked sharply as his eyes shot back to him, looking surprised, "Are they alive?"

"What? Of course they're alive," Scorpius answered the obvious and realized from the expression on Leebin's face that he hadn't known that, "Why? Did you think they were dead?"

"That's… That's what they said, the Shadows I mean. They said they'd killed them," Leebin said quietly as the window blew open the shutters behind them, he swallowed, "I knew they could be lying but I also knew it could just be wishful thinking on my part."

"Well they're very much alive, even Lysel," Scorpius told him with certainty, thinking it would snap Leebin out of wanting to stay, "So come on, let's go and you can see them."

"I-It's still not _safe_-"

"That's not an Inferi outside, that's you! The only thing you're hiding from is yourself! A weird tortured version of yourself that's like a nightmare or a bad memory or something but…"

Scorpius trailed off as he realized that made it sound worse, it _was_ worse really. You could get away from Inferi, you could stop them but you couldn't escape the pain in your mind. Leebin would have to face that if was to take proper control of his mind and life again, he glanced at Leebin who was looking away with a melancholy expression. Scorpius had no doubt that Leebin had also figured this out.

"Look, I get it," Scorpius offered carefully, fiddling with his own thumbs as he realized how much he could relate to that, "I wouldn't much want to face my bad memories either, in fact I avoided them too but… we have to accept the bad as well because it's just as much as a part of us as the good. You can't have one without the other in life, locked up here you're _safe_ from the bad but you're cut off from the good as well, from the things that matter, the things that make life worthwhile.

"It's letting the bad win, letting the people who hurt you take even more from you by losing the good things you have left. The bad is bad but you face to face it too, feel the feeling and get through it," Scorpius told him and felt more confident in what he was saying with each word, for once finding he knew what to say, "That's what you'd say, right? If our positions were reversed?"

"I wouldn't be feeling the feeling, I'd be _broken. _Maybe I don't want to be broken," Leebin insisted gestured vaguely around, he continued before Scorpius could argue to the contrary, "Look around you, I couldn't cope before and my mind broke from it. What's to say it won't happen again? Except next time I wouldn't even be able to save my consciousness."

"Well…" Scorpius started to say and realized he really had no idea, he looked around hoping Martha would appear and offer him answers about the mind but she didn't, "Okay honestly I don't know but… Isn't it worth trying? You can't just hide away in here like a coward because of what might happen."

"Maybe I'm just a coward."

"No, you're not," Scorpius said with certainty and a shake of his head, Leebin scowled at him.

"No offense, Scorpius, but you barely even _know_ me so-"

"Exactly, I don't even have to know you well to know you're no coward. You know what you have to do," Scorpius cut him off and Leebin looked at him for a long minute before sighing.

"You're right," Leebin nodded quietly as he stood, the door bursting open as he did so from the storm outside and sending icy winds blowing inside the sanctuary. The fire died and the room seemed rot around them, the shelves and books rotting away as if the place had been abandoned for years, "But um… in case I go mad, there really is some important that you should know about the Shadows-"

"Tell me after we get out of here, I have faith it'll work out," Scorpius insisted as he also stood, hoping he wouldn't regret it but feeling more worried about it.

Leebin didn't look convinced but nonetheless fell quiet as the tortured Leebin form from before limped in, groaning like a zombie and swinging its broken arms as if they were weapons. The real Leebin took a deep breath and approached it with extreme reluctance, he looked away and squeezed his eyes shut but nonetheless held out his arm to it as it lunged for him. Instead of being hindered by the blow, the second it touched him it was frozen and a blinding light erupted from the space where the two touched.


	17. Chapter 17: Flight of the Thestral

_**Parts (64-67)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 17  
**

Flight of the Thestral

* * *

**Part 1: **On The Way

* * *

Scorpius had to turn away from the engulfing light, holding up his hands to try block it out. And then he felt as if he was falling, he didn't seem to land yet became aware he was lying on something soft.

Somehow, Scorpius just knew he was no longer inside Leebin's mind and back in the real world, even before opening his eyes and recognizing Myriam's bedroom except it seemed darker. He sat up and almost gasped, it was as if someone hit him in the head with a slab of concrete. He clutched at it in pain, in his peripheral vision catching sight of Leebin sitting up and having the same reaction.

"The mental arts are pretty taxing like that," Martha's voice commented cheerfully and he looked up, glancing at her through the gaps between his fingers, seeing she was sitting cross-legged between them with her wand on her lap and a smile on her face despite looking suddenly tired, "Side effects include exhaustion and intense head pain."

"Why doesn't your head hurt?" Scorpius mumbled at her while his head continued to throb painfully.

"Oh, it does but I'm not going to baby it," Martha scoffed as if it was obvious and Scorpius cautiously lowered his arms which Leebin also did looking slightly dazed, her attitude making him feel rather pathetic. He also noticed she was still smiling.

"And why are you smiling?"

"You called me a friend," Martha said as if it was obvious.

"Right," Scorpius muttered and looked around, his eyes bulging in shock as he saw it was pitch black outside, "Its _night_."

"So?" Leebin mumbled beside him and Scorpius felt a flood of relief that Leebin still seemed with it.

"It was day when we started."

"I told you time works differently inside the mind and it could take a while," Martha pointed out which Scorpius supposed was truthful.

"I still didn't think it would take so long, we should probably be back in Hogwarts right now. They'll probably think we're missing or something."

"And who are you?" Leebin wondered of Martha.

"Martha Seneca, I was the friend who was helping him to save your mind," Martha explained and there was a flicker of surprise on his face presumably due to her age but he didn't say anything else about it as he just seemed to be getting his bearings.

"So someone fill me in, what day specifically was it when you… you know? What month are we in? How long have I been gone?"

"It was June 2nd."

"_What?!"_ Leebin burst out in horror, several books flying off the shelves at his outburst as his breathing started to become more rapid in panic."

"Calm down," Scorpius offered comfortingly, "I know it's been a while but it could be worse-"

"No you don't understand!" Leebin cut him off desperately, "The Shadows are going to attack England, they're going to attack England four days from now."

"_What?!"_ Scorpius burst out in a shock of his own, Leebin nodded which made his longer hair fall into his eyes which he frustrated pushed aside.

"June 6th, that's what Carver said."

"Carver told you that?!" Martha questioned, her surprise evident on her face, "Carver spoke to you?"

"Yes, he- he wanted to help me, to save me and wanted me to pass this along to the Aurors so they could prepare, he was secretly against the Shadows," Leebin explained and Martha's expression saddened that he seemed to catch, Scorpius also felt a new kind of respect for her brother, "What- What happened to him?"

"He died. Killed in a crossfire with the Ministry and the Shadows when they tried to get Calderon," Martha told him sadly, causing Leebin's eyes to widen in surprise once more before settling into a look of guilt, "He was my half-brother."

"I'm sorry, truly."

"Did he say anything else about this attack?" Scorpius prompted, feeling kind of bad but also knowing they didn't have much time if it was true but Leebin shook his head.

"We still need to warn the Ministry though so they can take steps to-"

"No, we can't," Martha shook her head, earning a scowl from Leebin, "Flan, the only reason you're not dead right now is because the Shadows believe you're insane. If they find out we restored your sanity then they _will_ kill you, they'll kill your whole family out of spite for screwing with their plans. No one can know you can that you're sane, no one but those closest to you so you can't go around passing on information to the Ministry."

"But-"

"She's right," Scorpius realized and found himself in agreement, Leebin's gaze shifted to him, "No one can know that you're okay."

"I have to pretend I'm still insane?" Leebin stated and they nodded in confirmation, he clearly didn't seem happy with this but seemed to understand, "Then what about the attack? I can't just do nothing."

"I'm part of Gray, I'll alert him and we'll deal with it. The Ministry is useless anyway, riddled with corrupt Shadow Aurors."

"They may be more useful if we can alert Harry to the spy," Leebin insisted, "Ron Weasley was framed, Cel Rooke is the Shadow, he's one of the Shadow Master's Lieutenants."

"He is?" Scorpius wondered in surprise although he did recall there were doubts about Ron, Leebin nodded in confirmation.

"Do you have any proof?" Martha questioned, making Leebin look taken aback, "I believe you but you _did_ just lose your mind. Potter will be shaken by the believed betrayal and be relying on Rooke even more, it'll take some concrete proof to make him see sense."

"I don't have any proof," Leebin admitted reluctantly, "Just what I heard and saw. Ron's their prisoner, he was kept near where I was."

"Where was that?" Scorpius prompted as he thought of saving him but Leebin flinched at the memory, a photograph nearby cracking.

"I don't know."

"Okay," Scorpius offered, regretting asking as Leebin now looked lost in his own little world as he stared sadly down at his scarred hands that were short of several fingers. He turned them over idly, "Did Carver tell you anything else noteworthy?"

"Not about the attack," Leebin said slowly as he tore his eyes away from his hands to look back to him, "But he did tell me about his uncle's plan to stop the Shadow Master, that'll probably be enacted soon too…"

"What? What was the plan?" Scorpius questioned, desperate to save Antonius.

"He said Pyrrhus Florian was his uncle-"

"We know," Scorpius and Martha cut him off in unison.

"Right… Well he said Ashylos' wand was the third piece of the Scepter and it wasn't destroyed in the explosion like everyone thought, it came into Antonius' possession and it's bound to him now."

"So?" Scorpius wondered.

"So it gives him a connection to the rest of the Scepter, they thought it meant he would be able to summon it from the Shadow Master. Then they could destroy it, strip her of that added power so Calderon would be able beat them this time," Leebin continued cautiously, "But to make sure Antonius was strong enough and the Shadow Master couldn't interfere, they want to add extra magic to Antonius' soul. They teamed up with Jack/One, this person who's a merged Specter and muggle soul, apparently they can… do that, I guess. But apparently they can't see Antonius' soul since it's already broken, so they won't be able to remove the magic once it's added to his soul. He can't survive with magic added to his soul, Antonius will die. Carver felt conflicted because of it."

"So that's the plan," Scorpius mused as Leebin's words slowly sunk into his mind, as they did so a burst of panic struck him, "Did- Did he say _when_ they were adding the magic to Antonius' soul? If they've already added it then… then it might already be too late."

"He didn't say."

"Martha, what do you think your uncle would do?" Scorpius questioned instead of the girl, Martha shifted uncomfortably.

"He'd wait, he wouldn't add the magic too soon because if Antonius died before the Shadow Master arrived then it's all for nothing _but_… he might also add it a bit before, give Antonius time to get used to it," Martha explained reluctantly, "It could've gone either way at this point, we haven't heard of someone having the magic ripped from their soul recently though – it would kill them – so that's a good sign I guess."

"Right," Scorpius muttered, trying to think through the throbbing in his head, "This is good though, we know the Shadow Master will be in England in four days and we know Florian will have to bring Antonius to face him."

"They still need to get Calderon first."

"We need to save him as well," Scorpius nodded as he recalled the last time they'd fought, worrying for his cousin, "Last time they almost ended up destroying each other, not to mention everything around them."

"He does have the best chance of stopping the Shadow Master though, no one else has that kind of power," Martha commented neutrally, reminding him just because she was helping him it didn't mean they were on the same page about everything.

"I don't suppose you'd know where they'd move him too?" Scorpius asked, glancing back to Leebin.

"No," Leebin admitted and looked hesitant, "But… I know who does know."

"Who? I need to find him to protect, he's not the Shadow Master-"

"I know," Leebin heaved a reluctant sigh and went to wring his hands nervously before seeming to find difficulty doing it with only half the fingers, "Claudia Oak."

"Who's she?" Scorpius asked.

"A muggle woman, the Minister's ex-fiancée. If anything happened to me then the plan was to go to her, she lives in a small town not too far out of London called Pathwood. She should know where Calderon is."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered gratefully, Leebin said nothing and continued looking downcast. Scorpius stood up, Martha jumping up so quickly to go with him that she almost fell off the bed.

"Do you really think we can stop the attack?" Leebin asked worriedly.

"If we can't then I don't think anyone can," Scorpius admitted, not arrogantly but truthfully as he had more faith in Varanian then the Ministry, "We should get going, we have a lot to do in not a lot of time if we're to stop the Shadow Master."

"Wait, there's something else you should know! Shadow Master's not a man."

"He's not a man?" Scorpius repeated in confusion.

"No, _she_ is Calderon's twin sister. The Shadow Master's a woman," Leebin told him and Scorpius gaped in surprise, no wonder no one had found her if they were looking for the wrong gender. Roman had been right, "And Brutus Ashain is her lover."

"He is?" Scorpius wondered, now that did surprise him. Or did it? Brutus had shown signs of caring for him- _her_ as well as his brother, he hadn't been protecting his evil boss but the woman he loved, "I would not have expected that."

"Interesting," Martha also mused, "Do you have a name or description?"

"No, Carver just said she was a woman and Brutus' lover," Leebin said with a shake of his head before throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, seeming marginally surprised at being able to move.

"Okay, so we're looking for a woman," Scorpius nodded in confirmation before continuing to the door with his head still aching, "We still need to go. And we can tell Myriam we succeeded, you ready to see your wife again?"

"Give me a minute," Leebin muttered, looking suddenly nervous and Scorpius could only nod as he left with Martha following him.

They headed back down the corridor, Maurene seemed to have gone to bed but Myriam was still there with Lysel. She sat on the couch with his small, frail body cuddled up to her in his blankets. He was asleep and Myriam's head also lolled until she caught sight of them.

"Did it work?" Myriam asked, still looking as if she was afraid to hope as she got up to walk over to them.

"It worked," Scorpius confirmed and glanced behind him as Leebin finally followed them into the room, Myriam's attention also shifted to her husband.

"Flan?" Myriam wondered as she approached him.

"I'm me, Myriam," Leebin confirmed quietly, tears bubbled in his wife's eyes and she smiled before throwing her arms around him. A look of panic crossed Leebin's face and he visibly tensed for a minute before relaxing into her hug, cautiously starting to hug her back before holding her tightly, "I love you so much."

"Come on," Scorpius muttered to Martha, giving the couple some privacy as they let themselves out of the Leebin house back into the streets of Hogsmeade, "Thank you. For helping to save him."

"It'll still take him some time to adapt," Martha said as they walked idly away from the Leebin house, "Time works differently in the mind, from his perspective he passed out from his intense torture into a strange dream and woke up suddenly with his wounds healed. I wouldn't consider him saved yet."

"Well he's better off than he was before."

"True," Martha confirmed and inclined her head in agreement, "So what's the plan now?"

"The plan?" Scorpius repeated in surprise, "Aren't you going back to Hogwarts?"

"Why would I do that? There's a war coming in three days. I want to help."

"How can you help?"

"Well, for starters how do you plan on getting Claudia to tell you where Calderon is? She's been told not to tell anyone, odds are she won't tell you," Martha told him quite truthfully, "You know I'm a capable Legilimens, I've also been trained to torture if I _really _had to. Besides, I know my uncle. If you want Antonius alive from him, I'm your best chance."

"Hmm…" Scorpius mused as he stopped walking, he could see the merit in what Martha was saying but he had planned to ring to Varanian once she was gone to fill him in and get a plan going. He didn't trust her enough to take her to Varanian's hideout, she'd helped him and he was glad but he still didn't trust her, the last thing he wanted was her telling Florian and the lunatic launching an attack on Varanian's base. He could just ring a message to him he supposed and continue on with Martha alone, however he was supposed to do- Actually he had an idea, "Ever flown on a Thestral before?"

"No."

"Well you are now," Scorpius told her and started leading her out of Hogsmeade for a more secluded area to transform, he also discretely pressed the tip of his wand against the ring to activate its message properties, "If you want to _stop Shadow Master attack on England June 6th_ anyway."

"Err… Yeah," Martha agreed, seemingly puzzled by his word choice but Scorpius didn't care. Varanian knew about the attack now, he could work on that while Scorpius worked on saving his cousin and his friend, "Will you know where to go?"

"I'm hoping Thestral senses will kick in, if not I'll have to ask for directions."

Scorpius stopped when he was satisfied at the distance before taking a deep breath and transforming, his body no longer hurting as it shifted to that of a Thestral and wings sprouted from his back. He tried to lower them and crouch a bit for Martha to climb on, she did after casting a quick disillusionment charm over herself but he still found it rather uncomfortable carrying a person on his back.

He'd also never tried to fly with someone on his back before, he started off at a gallop to build up speed before taking flight. He was somewhat surprised at his success, it was easier then he'd thought but also more uncomfortable then he'd envisioned. Still, the important thing was that they were on the move and his Thestral sense _did_ kick in. He knew where he was going. The time for failure was over, the time for success was now. He'd just saved Leebin and he would save Calderon and Antonius too, he couldn't fail anymore.

* * *

_Carver found his life was in a rather weird zone, the more he was working through his issues with Leebin the less satisfied he was with his own life. He wasn't feeling angry anymore so he didn't feel like taking it out on others anymore, unfortunately that was James' favorite pastime and he still wanted to be friends with James. His girlfriend broke up with him over it, he honestly couldn't blame her. Being on the team, he actually saw the people James' hated really weren't that bad. And he still felt sympathy for Michael, the boy seemed to be having a hard time. Carver tried to work up the courage several times to speak to him, to tell him he could relate, to encourage him it got better and apologize for how he'd treated him. Some Gryffindor he was because he never managed._

_Viola came to him asking for his aid in helping her get a Scepter piece in the school the Shadows were after but he refused, he wanted nothing to do with them. If he'd thought that was the worst thing that could happen though, he'd be mistaken. Latimer – one of the people they bullied who was on James' hate list – attempted suicide, Carver had never felt guiltier about anything in his life and it struck a very raw nerve because of Ethan. He was horrified and James didn't seem to understand, Carver was concerned by his friend's lack of remorse. He wanted nothing more than to talk things out with Leebin except he couldn't, the counsellors were being fired because of Latimer's suicide attempt despite the fact most – including Leebin, the only one Carver cared about – hadn't even met him._

_He was devastated and miserable, he wanted nothing more than to tell Latimer how sorry he was. He hadn't wished the boy dead, he was ugly – hardly a crime – and an oddball – more off-putting – but he was still at least a somewhat decent person. He didn't deserve this, he didn't need to die anymore then Ethan did. Latimer's protective friends wouldn't let him close though, he put his effort into a card and poured his heart out with his apology inside it and words of encouragement inspired by Leebin. Albus agreed to pass the card on at least, Carver could only hope they did. Even if Latimer didn't forgive him, he hoped maybe something he said might help and that Latimer would get better._

_Viola once again asked for his help at the end of the year, wanting to kidnap James' sister to ensure they could get the Scepter. Carver just made sure James wasn't in Hogsmeade because he didn't want to be involved, feeling disheartened that James continued to enjoy what Carver was becoming disgusted with. It made him almost glad to be back home for the summer, for once his mother wasn't pregnant so in better spirits although she still did let the kids go wild. Carver found them rather tedious and Amadeus had developed an annoying habit of following him around, Emerald did somewhat but she'd leave and was more pleasant company. Amadeus didn't talk, he'd just stare at him from behind his sack or mask. Carver thought that was something to be concerned about._

* * *

Scorpius found himself rather regretting his decision to fly, he had very much overestimated just how _long_ it took. Hogsmeade was in Scotland, Pathwood was literally hundreds of miles that he was flying. He foolishly tried simply flying as fast as he could to get there sooner but was forced to realize no matter how fast he flew, it was still a marathon not a sprint. Just in the air. It didn't help his head still throbbed, the whipping wind only seeming to seep into his brain and make the pulses of pain hurt even more.

He flew all night – or rather all morning, they'd entered into the early hours of the morning before leaving if the amount of time that passed before sunrise was anything to go by – but still wasn't there yet. It was impossible to tell how long it took exactly but he knew it was at least afternoon before he finally set them down in Pathwood, his spindly legs wanting nothing more than to collapse and let his exhausted body sleep. Between the tiredness he'd suffered as a result of being inside of Leebin's mind and the long flight with Martha on his back to boot, he felt thoroughly exhausted. And the battle hadn't even started yet.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Martha commented as Scorpius landed on the outskirts of the town under the cover of some trees, she clambered off him and he transformed back into a human.

"No," Scorpius shook his head although remained weakly on all fours, he was tired but still determined, "We need to find Claudia."

"I _know_," Martha insisted as if it were obvious while Scorpius sat up, "But that doesn't really need both of us. I can ask around and find out her specific address while you take a quick nap, you'll have better luck saving people if you're not completely dead on your feet."

"Alright," Scorpius agreed with a sigh, leaning back against the tree as his eyes fluttered closed, "But I don't think I'm going to get much sleep right…"

* * *

_Carver received his OWL results in the mail, he'd done worse in some areas and better in others but then he'd focused on the subjects he cared about because he did still fear people catching on to his prior training. He spent some time with his dad again too, he refused to let him around Ethan but he found himself spending time with Pyrrhus again as well as his maturing siblings. Viola wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts, her involvement in the abductions had made her Shadow status known so she'd had to leave. She murdered her own mother for trying to convince her to turn against the Shadows, his dad worried for her lack of remorse but she was quite happy to be back in the Training Tower. He started his NEWT year , choosing to take only Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Potions as he viewed them as the most essential and important subjects. Any hope of James having outgrown his cruel streak was dashed, he was still focused on bullying and still on this one kid. Carver wished he would at least spread the pain not overwhelm the child._

_James also confided in for the first time about the realization that he was gay, something Carver had suspected and craved before yet now a relationship with him was actually theoretically possible… He found James' cruelty was off-putting, he missed the boy he'd befriended and feared the monster James was becoming. He loved James, he still considered him his best friend and would not stop trying to get him over this dark streak but he had no desire to date him while he was like this. Carver had gotten past his anger and he felt better for it, he was sure James could do the same. Even though James seemed to relish the pain he inflicted and went much further then Carver ever had, Carver feared one of these days he'd go too far and really hurt someone._

_He managed to convince his dad to let him stay with him for the summer, the chance to spend time with the son of Harry Potter appealed to him. Carver was doing it for James though, he thought maybe something to look forward to would dull his anger and maybe he could use a break from the stress of war and all. Long as his dad didn't screw it up. He was quite anxious about it, a run in with Maurice had exposed his Shadow-taught skill. He could choose not to be a Shadow but he couldn't erase his past. The holiday was a mistake, he spent the whole time watching James being manipulated by his dad who was convinced he was a sadist and wouldn't be hard to get on their side. The only good to come of it was his mum thought Harry Potter had taken a liking to Damien for some reason so she now liked the boy, meaning she was happier being around her baby. _

_Carver did love his dad but they had very different viewpoints, they always would. It saddened him really, he wished he had things in common with at least any of his parents. Not for the first time he wished that Hogwarts still had counsellors, he'd love to ask for Leebin's advice. He'd been working with James so he must've believed he had a chance, whether he was a sadist or not. The year went from bad to worse, his dad had knocked someone else up and his mum had fallen pregnant again to her great unhappiness, James got expelled, James joined the Shadows despite Carver's best efforts. It was just as he'd feared. And then it continued to get worse when the Shadows attacked, despite fighting against them people ended up jumping to conclusions and believed him to be the one thing he fought so hard not to be. His dad died, killed by Pyrrhus. Despite the difference of opinion, he hadn't wished his dad dead. He felt as if his life was unraveling, he didn't know what to do._

* * *

"Wake up," a familiar voice commanded.

Scorpius jolted awake in surprise as he felt as if he'd only just closed his eyes, finding he was lying under a tree with sunlight filtering through the leaves overhead with Martha standing before him. He blinked tiredly and Martha shoved a bottle of water into his hands, he didn't think twice before opening it and started to chug down the refreshing liquid. He was thirsty after the flight, he downed three quarters of it before stopping to draw breath.

"I got her address," Martha told him and Scorpius nodded in relief as he started on finishing up the bottle, "I also thought you could use a drink."

"Thank you," Scorpius offered gratefully as he finished the last of the bottle, Martha held out a hand to him to help him which he took, "Let's go."

"You like sticking to the point, don't you?" Martha asked of him as she started leading him through the town, the very muggle town which had him feel immediately guarded.

He merely shrugged in answer to the question, not sure what to say to that. He still thought he'd rather Varanian be here but he had to admit, Martha was pretty good in a crisis. But then he supposed she had been trained like Maurice, she'd been preparing for situations like this all her life. Thinking of Varanian made him glance at the ring on his finger, hoping for a reply but found it quite blank.

Martha led them through the town as if she'd been there her whole life, Claudia apparently would have to live on the opposite side of town to the one he'd landed in and on the outskirts to boot. It was a nice little cottage with a neatly trimmed hedge around the outside, the front yard was a garden filled with different color flowers. They walked up to the door and Martha knocked politely, Scorpius leaned over her to press the doorbell instead which had Martha jolt in shock as if she'd never heard a doorbell before.

"Did you just trigger some alarm?" Martha asked in alarm.

"No, it's just a doorbell," Scorpius said while she continued to look at him like she was speaking a different language, "It's so muggles know when people are at the door."

"Have muggles not heard of knocking?" Martha wondered in genuine curiosity before they were distracted by the door opening.

"Yes?" the woman who answered it prompted, she was tall and pretty with shoulder-length chocolate brown hair tucked behind her ears, "Can I help you?"

"Are you Claudia Oak?"

"I am," Claudia confirmed and frowned, "What's this about?"

"This is about Calderon."

"I don't know anyone by that name," Claudia blurted out immediately, almost mechanically but her face betrayed her anxiety and she backed more into the house, "You have me confused with someone else, goodbye."

"_No_, we don't," Martha insisted and put her foot in the door as Claudia tried to close it on them, pushing it back open again and withdrawing her wand as she headed into the house.

"Martha!" Scorpius hissed and rushed in after them to a spacious living room, a white couch facing a flat screened muggle television, a door to the kitchen – visible as the door was the open – resided to the right while a white staircase went up that stretch of the rest of the wall, "Don't hurt her!"

"I'm not going to hurt you, we just need to know where he is," Martha told Claudia, keeping her wand on her threateningly though and backing the terrified muggle up until she fell back onto the couch, "We want to help him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Claudia lied once more but Martha had captured her eyes, she pressed her wand to Claudia's forehead and the muggle gasped before falling unconscious.

"What did you do?!" Scorpius demanded as he ran over but Martha didn't answer, he faced the girl and realized her eyes were closed and her face set with a look of focus, "Martha? Martha, what are you doing to her? Martha?!"

"Hmm?" Martha wondered as she snapped out of it, stepping back from the sleeping muggle.

"What were you doing?!"

"Legilimency," Martha shrugged as if it was obvious, "Do you want the information or not?"

"I do, I just… don't want to _hurt_ her. Or for you to hurt her," Scorpius admitted although he didn't see another way to get the information, if Claudia wasn't going to tell them before then she certainly wasn't going to tell them now.

"I'll be gentle," Martha assured before raising her wand to the woman's forehead once more, closing her eyes and looking focused. Scorpius was forced to wait. And wait. Time dragged by unhelpfully and agonizingly slowly before finally she stepped back from the still unconscious muggle, taking a deep breath, "Okay, I know where Calderon is. I erased her memory of us and sent her to sleep, she'll be fine as soon as she wakes up and will just think she had a nap after work."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered in surprise at how simple it had been, Martha merely nodded as she headed over to the door. He followed and left after her, she closed the door behind them, "Where is he?"

"Um… That's the _bad_ news," Martha admitted as she led them away from Claudia's house, "He's way up north, almost in Scotland."

"But we just came from Scotland!"

"That's why I called it bad news," Martha said looking regretful, "Sorry, Scorpius."

"It's okay," Scorpius sighed as they wandered away from the town looking for cover, not looking forward to the journey. But he was looking forward to the destination, "It's not your fault."

"You sure you're up for another long flight so soon?"

"I'm going to have to be, aren't I? There's no other way, the Knight Bus would give us away and I doubt Calderon's location is connected to the Floo Network."

"No," Martha confirmed, "Would make it too easy to find."

They reached a closed off section of land and he once again transformed himself into his animagus form, Martha climbing on and Scorpius took flight for the second time that day. Except this time, the sun was almost set to set not set to rise. Next stop though was his cousin and that hope spurred him on, gave him strength.

* * *

**Part 2: **To Claudia and Calderon

* * *

"Do you actually have any idea where you're going?" Orous questioned curiously of Florian.

The night had passed rather erratically, Florian would apparate several times to random places then they'd walk or drive – in whatever car nearby he could steal – for a bit then apparate some more then maybe rest for a bit in an abandoned home or hotel after Florian put up a bunch of protective enchantments only to wake him – if Orous had actually managed to fall asleep – to start the process again. He wasn't surprised Florian looked such a frightful wreck if he was living his life like this, his long red hair was matted with filth and his bagged eyes were bloodshot from a lack of sleep.

He was coming to sorely regret his decision, since Florian was their lead to Antonius he'd hoped going with him would lead him to his friend. Something his other friends had apparently not thought of in their flat out rejection, or maybe they'd just been right about him being nuts. According to Florian, Antonius had turned on him and gone off with Jack/One who'd kidnapped his son while he'd managed to escape with the wand he needed for his plan to stop the Shadow Master. Orous hadn't been able to get more details then that, Florian's explanations were disjointed and difficult to follow.

"I know we're going nowhere," Florian told him as they walked down a random muggle street in a city Orous wasn't familiar with, nodding vigorously, "We just need to wait. They only have three days, they'll trigger my enchantments. They have to. And then we'll get them and save Oathan."

"But how can you be sure they'll act in three days?" Orous complained.

"Because they only have three days! Okay!?" Florian screeched before leading him into an alleyway.

"Okay."

Orous sighed heavily and wondered if Florian would notice if he ran away. He didn't just doubt Florian's flimsy plan wouldn't work, he wasn't entirely convinced Jack/One had taken Oathan and Antonius. For all he knew Florian had just lost them in his excessive moving and panicked or they'd willing left because of his instability. At least Florian was letting him have his freedom, he hadn't taken his wand and wasn't treating him like a prisoner although Orous wasn't sure if that wouldn't change if he did try to leave. He didn't leave though, this was the closest they'd had to a lead on Antonius in months and he had to see it through.

"And let me know if you get hungry, gotta keep your strength up to fight One," Florian offered before holding out his hand again.

Orous took and went through a series of apparation, he thought he'd been okay with apparation but several times in a row like this make him want to vomit. Florian was good at feeding him, bad at remembering feeding him though it seems as they'd had dinner not too long ago. They stopped in an abandoned house and Florian started putting up protective enchantments once more, Orous went and sat down on one of the armchairs with a dust sheet thrown over it. His eyes drifted around, finding faded photographs with scorched edges lining the mantelpiece. One seemingly of parents with a young child made him think of Florian's son, his brother who he found himself much less invested in saving then his friend. He wondered if that made him a bad person, he knew he _should_ care but…

"It's working! It's working!" Florian burst out abruptly in excitement, snapping him from his thoughts, "One resurfaced, he's going after that muggle woman connected to Alaric. It's time."

* * *

"_Accio ball_," Antonius cast lazily with the stolen wand Jack/One had given him to use for the time being.

The ball propelled itself across the hotel room into his waiting hand, he'd gotten much better at the spell now. He could do it even lazily in his boredom like this, he didn't know if was because of Alaric's extra power or his own willingness but he'd excelled since he'd had the magic added. Oathan watched from the bed quietly while the television played some boring muggle cartoon, at least he finally seemed to have given up fighting but the betrayal never seemed to fade from his violently violet eyes. It wasn't Antonius' fault though, he hadn't wanted Oathan to be mixed up in this but he just kind of… was. Antonius threw the ball back to the other side of the room to go again, there were only a few days until the Shadow Master attacked. Assuming they could still get his wand back, plus Calderon.

"_Accio ball_," Antonius cast yet again, the ball started to fly to his hand obediently only for it to stop as Jack/One phased in and caught it.

"_We got Claudia's address_," One announced with a satisfied smirk, Antonius scowled at them as he sat up. Just because he had to work with them, it didn't mean he liked it nor had forgotten the people it killed.

"Took you long enough," Antonius complained as he stood up, folding his arms while One narrowed its eyes darkly, "We do have a time limit here."

"_Ungrateful runt_," One scoffed before the expression softened and the voice changed slightly to Jack's, "Let's just get going, as you say we're still on a time limit."

"Come on, Oathan," Antonius called to the smaller boy, Oathan didn't move, "Oathan!"

"I don't wanna," Oathan said for the sake of being difficult.

"_He said get_!" One barked at the boy and grabbed him roughly, half throwing him off the bed to make him stand.

Antonius put his hand on Jack/One's other arm, he didn't know what exactly would happen over the next few days but he know he'd be free of it. Best case scenario: the plan worked, the Shadow Master was defeated and he'd get to spend his last few months with his family, with his friends. Worst case scenario: he failed and died. Either way was rid of Jack/One.

They rematerialized outside a nice house with a hedge and a garden of flowers, getting an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu which he chalked up to the connection he had to Alaric with the Minister's magic in his soul. It was how he'd figured Claudia out in the first place. It occurred to him as they approached the door that they hadn't discussed a plan on _how_ to get her to tell them Calderon's location, or what he'd do to the poor woman's soul.

"You're not going to hurt her, are you?" Antonius asked worriedly, Jack/One gave no answer as he knocked on the door.

"Yes?" a familiar voice he'd never heard before asked as they opened the door.

She was beautiful with dark brown hair tucked behind her ears, he liked darker hair. Or maybe that was Alaric. Flashes of Alaric's memories of her took over his vision as she rubbed her eyes, looking as if she'd only just woken up. Memory of her yelling at him in tears, throwing back her ring and telling him she couldn't marry someone who couldn't trust her. But he couldn't. It saddened him but he just couldn't, it didn't stop him loving her though.

Antonius flashed back to reality at the sound of her screaming, he blinked and saw the others had moved into the house. Claudia was on the floor screaming as Jack/One held his hand down to her, a shadowy light confirming he was attacking her soul. Antonius rushed forward and grabbed his wrist, yanking it away.

"What are you doing?!" Antonius yelled at him, horrified naturally at him destroying someone's soul, Claudia specifically because of Alaric's residual feelings and desperate that they needed her alive to give them Calderon's location, "We need her alive!"

"_I know, I was just torturing her soul_," One insisted as if it were obvious, rolling its eyes, "_Geez._"

"Can't you get the information _without_ torturing her?" Antonius pleaded guiltily, looking at the crying woman on the floor and knowing from experience how much it hurt to have your soul damaged.

"_No_!"

On that note, One threw Antonius off his arm out of the away. Antonius _hated_ it, he hated it so much. He could only hope Claudia would cave sooner, if only to spare herself the pain. Jack/One raised their hand once more to the poor woman, only to be struck in the back by a jet of light that caused a massive explosion.

Jack/One screamed as they were flung forwards, Antonius himself was thrown backwards from the impetus of the blast. He hit the laminate floor painfully and bounced off it, he groaned. Antonius pulled himself up to look in the doorway, seeing Florian standing there with his wand outstretched to where Jack had been standing with Orous by his side.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Albus wondered tiredly of Maurice.

They'd been up all night and all day following the trail, or at least so Maurice said. They'd arrive at a location, wait for him to make complex motions with his wand to tell them what to do next or walk for a bit first. Sometimes Corin would help. The only sleep he'd gotten was occasionally nodding off in boredom waiting for Maurice, he'd had nothing to eat – they had no muggle money with them to buy food – and the only thing he'd had to drink was water from the tap in a muggle bathroom. He wanted to find Orous too but he felt as if they were just on a wild gnome chase, he thought maybe it was best to just pass this information along to the adults since they seemed to be getting nowhere.

"Clearly no," Corin stated the obvious and Maurice lowered his wand, putting a hand to his necklace as he noticed them talking while Corin signed at him in that hand language the deaf boy could understand.

"Albus," Maurice complained at him with a glare, "We're doing the best we can and we're gaining on him, he's taking breaks to sleep and eat which is giving us a chance to catch up. We're getting closer, we'll get him."

"I wish _we'd_ take breaks to sleep and eat," Albus muttered under his breath unhappily, listening to his growling stomach while Maurice went back to his wand motions. He noticed Rose suppressed a yawn beside him.

"Okay, I got the next location," Maurice announced happily as he spun back round to face them, Albus sighed, "Ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be I guess."

* * *

Orous was shocked, Florian had actually been right. He'd apparated them to the house and they'd walked in the already open door to see Antonius grappling with a man who was seemingly trying to attack a woman although had no wand, near them was a small crimson haired child who he thought had to be Oathan. His half-brother reminded him strongly of the mother he'd murdered, he had the same soft features Maurice shared but unlike Maurice he had Florian's fiery hair – although with a slight wave to it more like her and Maurice and Orous himself for that matter - and vividly violet eyes. He was scarred too, his small hands already riddled with engraved words and around his eye was a cross, a fresher looking wound also crossing through it. Florian had already jabbed his wand at the man's back though, casting… one of the blasting spells there was to send him flying.

"Daddy!" Oathan cried in delight, his face lighting up as he saw Florian while Orous had more focus on getting to Antonius who'd also been knocked off his feet from the force of the blast.

The man recovered faster than Orous would've thought a human could before any of them could move however, he held out his hand to Florian who immediately fell to the ground screaming in pain which had Oathan freeze in shock. He'd deduce that had to be Jack/One and that had to be attacking his soul, this was what Florian had meant by something he couldn't defend against that he needed Orous for. He didn't like Florian but he was still his ally in his moment.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Orous cast as he focused on a happy childhood memory with his dad.

His silver dove shot out of his wand, looking wispier then he remembered but nonetheless struck Jack/One. The man screamed and threw himself back, releasing Florian who scrambled shakily back to his feet and inclined his head to him in gratitude. Oathan started towards him again but Jack/One recovered again, they vanished into shadow and Orous barely had time to wonder what was happening before he reappeared to grab Oathan.

"No!" Florian cried as Jack/One wrapped his arm around Oathan's neck to hold him in place, jabbing a wand at the boy's head.

"_Give me the wand or I'll kill the kid_," Jack/One growled threateningly.

Before they could obey, Oathan opened his mouth wide and bite down on Jack/One's arm seemingly quite hard. The man cried out again and dropped the boy, Florian swiped his wand through the air and Jack's flew from his own hand to hover instead aimed at its master. Orous flicked his own wand at the man again, wanting him out of the picture.

"_Stupefy!_" Orous cried.

"_Protego!"_ an unexpected voice cast and a shield sprang up, defending Jack/One from the spell. It was Antonius, he was on his feet with his wand out protectively of Jack/One. Orous could only gape at him.

"Antonius, what are you doing?! He's-"

"He's bad I know but you don't understand, Orous," Antonius insisted seriously, his expression one of certainty, "We have a way to stop the Shadow Master and unfortunately he can help."

"Forget that, Antonius, we can take you home to your family," Orous offered and he saw tears welling behind the boy's eyes, "You don't have to worry about that, it's not your fight."

"I want nothing more than to go home, believe me, but I _have_ to do this. I'm the only one who can and I don't have time to explain."

"Try," a voice commanded and their eyes all shifted to the doorway where his twin stood, Rose, Corin and Albus behind.

* * *

Things were quickly turning into a disaster for Antonius, Orous showed up Florian for some reason and then Maurice, Corin, Albus and Rose. He'd be lying if he said a part of him wasn't happy to see his friends, after months of no contact with anyone he cared about without even knowing if he would see them again, it was nice to see some familiar faces. On the other hand, they didn't know or understand about the plan and even if he told them he didn't think they would understand. They thought he was just a weak child, incapable of taking away the Shadow Master's most powerful weapon.

The room erupted into spell fire, Maurice fired a fiery spell at Florian who dropped Jack/One's wand in order to counter it, dispersing the flames. He was weakened from the attack on his soul, Antonius realized, off his game and from the glint in Jack/One's eyes he had too. Orous jumped protectively in front of him though, signing frantically at Maurice. Rose, Albus and Corin all fired stunners at the two adults while this was happening, Albus' missed, Florian dodged Rose's and Jack/One phased into darkness to avoid Corin's after grabbing Oathan's arm to take him too. Claudia screamed in panic as the jets instead smashed into her house, shattered a plant pot, photograph and punching a hole on the wall. She crawled behind the couch as a defense, not a bad idea.

"I DON'T CARE!" Maurice screamed angrily at his twin, "He took my hand, he took my friend and I'm taking his life! Stand aside!"

"Antonius!" Albus called to him with a look of relief, holding out his hand to him as he rushed over, "Come to me, I'll get you out of here."

"_Flipendo!_" Antonius cast guiltily, sending his friend flying back into the wall while Maurice cast another spell at Florian.

Florian waved his wand and Jack's wand jolted back to life, he swished through the air and a crescent shaped burst of wind swung out towards his friends. Maurice jabbed his wand at his feet, they seemed to root into the ground and prevent him from being effected while Corin and Rose were knocked over like bowling pins. Maurice slashed his wand up and sprung out of the ground, higher then someone could normally jump and sent a jet of green light plummeting down at Florian. Orous grabbed his arm in shock and yanked them both out of the way, falling in his haste as the pair hit the ground while Maurice landed on his feet.

"Orous, stop protecting him!" Maurice snapped at him.

"_Calm down_," Orous shot back but it fell on literal deaf ears.

Jack/One phased back into existence by Antonius' side with a grip still on Oathan, he swung his wand and a stunner quickly shot on target with Maurice. Albus threw up his wand as he got to his feet though, his free hand clutching the back of his head and an expression of pain on his face from hitting the wall. Antonius felt like apologizing. A Shield Charm slammed up to block it before it could hit Maurice, the explosion of light got Maurice's attention though and the defense incurred One's wrath. He jabbed their wand at Albus while Maurice sent a stunner at Jack/One, Antonius waved his own wand.

"_Protego!_" Antonius cried, casting a shield to deflect the stunner.

This earned a look of confused rage from Maurice while Jack/One's spell connected with Albus, there was a sickening snap and Albus screamed in pain as his lower leg twisted violently to the left. He fell, clutching his wounded leg and Antonius felt another stab of guilt.

"Don't hurt them, please," Antonius pleaded at Jack/One, who he noticed for the first time had retained injuries to his back from Florian's initial spell. The flesh he could see through the tears in the fabric looked charred, torn and bloody, "Its Florian we want."

"Just give us Oathan and you can have the wand," Florian offered conversationally as he and Orous got to their feet.

Orous and Florian were back on their feet in front of the couch, Claudia was cowering behind it, Rose was crouched by her wounded cousin – Albus still clutched his leg in pain - near the door with Corin back on his feet beside them, Maurice was somewhere in the middle just further back while Antonius himself stood with Jack/One, Oathan still in their grip. Most of them had their wands drawn and were eying the others suspiciously, waiting to see who would make the first move.

Most of the people in the room Antonius had no desire to see hurt or more hurt yet they would, they would fight unless someone did something. Unless _he_ did something. An idea clicked into this mind, Florian was offering the wand for his son as expected. Since he was on the run with no real place to go, what were the odds he'd brought the wand with him?

"_Accio my wand!_" Antonius yelled and jabbed his wand in Florian's general direction.

Everyone seemed surprised by his choice of spell or wording maybe, freezing for a second more and watching. Why not though, wasn't this what he'd been practicing? His wand flew from Florian's back pocket, the man tried to grab it but missed as it flew across the room and into Antonius' waiting hand. He felt a rush of power holding it, he felt complete in a way he'd never felt with his substitute wand and immediately abandoned it.

"Enough!" Antonius cried.

There was a burst of crimson from his wand, a pulse that swept through the entire room. Several scrambled to put up Shield Charms but even those fast enough were blown aside by his magic, by his power. Everyone the light touched fell to the ground – or toppled over if they weren't standing – unmoving but for the rise and fall of their chests, they were all unconscious.

Antonius took a deep breath, not sure entirely how he'd done that but he was glad for it all the same. He ran his fingers over his wand, it felt good to have it back. It also made him feel more confidence, if he'd got it from Florian then maybe he could- no he _could_, he had to – get the rest of it from the Shadow Master. They still needed Calderon though, Antonius just hoped he'd agree to their plan.

"_Rennervate_," Antonius whispered as he crouched over Jack/One, still needing his aid and the Specter-man stirred.

"What did you do?" Jack groaned as he got up, Antonius rising with him.

"Stopped the fight before it started, there's no reason for any of them to get hurt," Antonius explained and insisted, "Do you understand? We're going to leave them alone, all of them. We got the wand, we get the information from Claudia and we leave. Okay?"

"_Okay_. But we get to torture her to make her talk."

"Torture but not kill," Antonius countered and Jack/One narrowed his eyes, "We only have three days, we still need to actually _get_ Calderon to join us after we get _to_ him and you're injured. Do you really want to waste time on this? Neither of us is getting what we want."

"_Fine_," One reluctantly agreed as it folded its arms, "_We'll torture the information out of her then leave her alive but unconscious with the others, go to somewhere secure so I can heal up then we go after Calderon."_

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Scorpius flew with Martha on his back, feeling they were simply going back the way they came as he soared the skies with the same familiar landscape beneath him. He flew until the sun set and then kept on flying into the night, he was sure into the early hours of the morning before they finally reached their destination. He landed in a copse outside the place, a cabin in the mountains. Martha climbed off him and he transformed back, half-collapsing onto the ground to rest for a minute. He was tired, his eyes stung from lack of sleep and his body utterly felt physically drained from all that effort, on a now empty stomach to boot…

* * *

Scorpius half-collapsed on the ground when they got there after turning back, his eyes snapping shut tiredly. Martha decided she may as well leave him to rest while she scouted out their terrain, she didn't think he knew anything about this stuff. She rubbed her own tired eyes but pushed it aside, she could sleep when she was dead which would probably be sooner rather than later. She was cold too and her head still hurt from the use of mental arts, Scorpius may be the one flying but she was still getting no rest.

She watched the Aurors from the bushes and trees, putting the stealth training she'd had into practice and was grateful the moon was almost full as it provided enough light for the trained eye to work with. There were only four of them, they had a pretty uniform way of rotating the rounds so learning and memorizing their movements wasn't challenging. She knew where they'd be, it would be quite easy to neutralize them.

The way she saw it there were four options: they could kill them – her least favorite option and the one she thought Scorpius was least likely to approve of as well but the dead were least likely to get back up to stop them – or they could stun them – the most secure option since they'd be down but them using real spells might draw their Trace, it was harder to get away with them animagi or mental arts – or sneak by them – the easiest way in but may be harder to leave with Calderon plus if there was any enchantments inside that they triggered or something went wrong they'd still be there to rush back in – or she could take them down with Legilimency. That was probably her favorite option, however if they knew Occlumency then it was much more of a risk and she wasn't sure she could do it.

She went back to ask Scorpius what he thought, only to find he was actually sound asleep on the grass where she'd left him. He looked so cute when he was sleeping, his white-blond hair looked silver in the moonlight and spread over the dark grass. She liked blonds. He looked younger too, the tension he constantly carried in his face was gone. Martha sighed, she didn't really want to disturb him. He had enough to deal with, she could do this for him.

Martha returned closer to the cabin and waited for one of the Aurors to come by, finally one of the men did. She jumped out in front of him and jabbed her wand at his face to help her channel her power, capturing his eyes with her own and mentally propelled herself into his mind. He tried to resist but he clearly didn't know Occlumency, his thoughts were clogged and cluttered with worries about his family in the war which made it easier to dive into the deeper layers of the old Auror's mind. There were enchantments inside, she saw from his memories, and Calderon was too. She'd have to take them out.

She also decided to try something she hadn't before as she felt the need to retain control and didn't trust suggestions or trickery, she'd try full on possession. She shut his consciousness in with his subconscious, sealing them in with a mental barrier so she could control his body. It was a strange kind of feeling really, she knew she was standing there by the trees but she was also seeing from his eyes and was aware of where his body was. It was almost like controlling a puppet, she was vaguely connected to it as she held the controls that had the wires between them. Except her mind was thinking what movements her hands should make rather than physically making movements with her hands, it was very surreal.

She controlled the Auror, guiding his movements as if they were her own to follow his route still. She waited until he'd cross paths with one of the others, the man giving her – well the Auror - a nod of acknowledgement that she had him return in passing. As they walked by though, she had his wand slip expertly into his hand and strike his ally in the back with a silent stunner, following it immediately with a spell to slow his momentum so he'd land quietly and finally a disillusionment charm to make the unconscious body less likely to be seen. She went around the cabin, using the Auror to quickly and silently take out the others with as little effort. Seemingly little anyway, she could feel the pain creeping in already as possession was straining her own mind. She pushed through it though, almost there.

Martha finally had her Auror go through the cabin, removing the protective enchantments and for good measure casting some of her own that would shield the area from the Trace thus allowing them to perform magic unhindered should they have to. Finally, she made sure the Auror's consciousness was still safely sleeping in his subconscious before removing his memory of her and leaving him to sleep with the others.

She collapsed onto the ground where her body physically could, breathing heavily from the mental toll it took on her. Her head was swimming in pain, she got to all fours and tried to breathe through the pain, letting her mind adapt because she'd have to live with the throbbing. Shakily she got to her feet and found the Auror she'd possessed, also casting a disillusionment charm on his body before finally returning to the still sleeping Scorpius. She leaned weakly against a tree, feeling utterly drained from the possession and weak from the lack of food, water and sleep she had. She wished she could drop to the ground and sleep too, she couldn't though. And neither could he.

"Scorpius," Martha said firmly and his gray eyes shot open immediately.

* * *

"Hmm?" Scorpius muttered as his opened, slightly annoyed Martha wouldn't give him five seconds to rest. He rubbed his still-tired eyes and looked around, seeing her leaning against a nearby tree.

"I've subdued all the Aurors," Martha told him and Scorpius blinked in shock, hadn't he only just closed his eyes for a second? "We should go get Calderon now, we're on a time limit."

"Wh- Di- Was I asleep?" Scorpius spluttered out in surprise as he stood.

"Yep."

Martha pushed herself off the tree, leading him towards the cabin. He followed quickly and saw bodies of Aurors, for a panicked moment he thought she'd killed them but he noticed they were breathing. She walked inside and he had another jolt of panic.

"Shouldn't we be more cautious? What if there are enchantments?"

"I disabled them. And put up one so we can safely use magic without detection," Martha answered casually, shocking Scorpius yet again as she led him through the comfortable cabin without a hint of hesitation. She took him upstairs and paused finally at a door, nodding to it, "And I know the layout from the Auror's mind, Calderon's in there."

"Martha…" Scorpius started to say but found himself utterly speechless at all she'd accomplished, he was impressed as she turned to him, "You're brilliant. Just… wow."

Martha's blushed furiously, looking her age again as she looked down but smiled sheepishly at his praise. Scorpius stepped forward and found the door locked, he withdrew his wand and quickly cast a silent Unlocking Charm to grant him access. He put his hand on the doorknob before glancing back to Martha.

"Do you… Do you mind if I have a moment alone with him?" Scorpius asked and Martha gestured for him to go on as she moved away readily.

Scorpius took a deep breath before twisting the doorknob, pushing it open and going inside. He found he was in a comfortable, spacious room albeit with bars on the windows. There was a large, comfy looking double bed in front of him and lying on it was a very familiar man that girls considered handsome with jet-black hair in contrast with his incredibly pale skin. Despite everything, Scorpius smiled at the sight of him. He'd found his cousin, he'd finally found Calderon.

* * *

**Part 3: **Clashes

* * *

"Hey," Scorpius said nervously and Calderon sat up immediately, his dark eyes wide with surprise as Scorpius approached him.

"Scor- Is that... really you?" Calderon croaked weakly as if his vocal chords didn't get much use these days, peering at him in the gloom like he struggled to believe what he was making out.

Scorpius opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say while Calderon continued to gape at him. After last time a wave of guilt hit him, the harsh things he'd said and the way he'd ran off. Words failed him not for the first time in his life as he reached his cousin, instead he threw his arms around Calderon to hug his cousin tight.

"I'm _so_ sorry," Scorpius spoke finally as tears erupted from his eyes, he felt Calderon cautiously hug him back as the lump in his throat tried to choke him, "For what I said, for what I did… It doesn't matter, I didn't mean it. I know you're the Shadow Master, I know you're a good person at heart. I don't care that you're Voldemort's son."

"R-Really?" Calderon wondered, sounding as if he was tearing up himself, "You don't hate me?"

"No," Scorpius confirmed as he pulled away, wiping his eyes and seeing Calderon was indeed crying, "I know you were just trying to protect your sister."

"We were always told if normal people do then we'd be hated, everyone would turn on us because of who our father was. We always knew it would happen then we'd wind up back where we were born, back in Azkaban so I expected it really. And now I'm here."

"Not for long, you're not," Scorpius announced determinedly as he got up off the bed, Calderon's eyes followed him slowly in confusion and he realized his cousin's movements seemed oddly sluggish, "I'm here to rescue you."

"Rescue me?" Calderon repeated in surprise before shaking his head and cautiously lying back down, on his side so he was still looking at Scorpius after wiping his still tearstained cheeks, "It's okay, you can go on without me. Save yourself, Scor, I'm at peace with my fate."

"But you're a _prisoner_," Scorpius pointed out incredulously, astonished someone – especially someone with a fear of Azkaban and imprisonment like Calderon did – would prefer this.

"I know. They treat me better then all my other captors though," Calderon told him, looking as if he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, "I'd rather be a prisoner then a fugitive, I don't want to cause trouble and I don't even know what I'd do. Hogwarts was my life, I can't go back to that now though when I'd be on the run. I'd rather wait, I had a good time while it lasted and that's all you can hope for. You can go tho- Why did they take you in the first place? You're not Voldemort's son."

"Are you alright?" Scorpius asked in concern at Calderon's odd behavior.

"I'm sorry," Calderon muttered still tiredly, "They give me Power-Repressing Potion, takes away all my strength and power and energy. It's hard to focus or think… I feel like I'm dying, it's hard."

"What?! Dying?!" Scorpius spluttered out in alarm while Calderon smiled weakly as his eyes closed, he hated that damn potion.

"It was nice to see you again though, I'm glad you don't hate me."

"I'm _not_ leaving you here," Scorpius decided, even more determined than before to save his cousin now as he went over and pulled the lanky man into a sitting position. Calderon seemed to force his eyes open to glance at him once more, "Come on, I'll take you to Varanian. Wouldn't you like to see your old buddy Va- Pippy? He'll keep you safe until the war ends and we sort all this out, you won't be trapped and dying."

"That sounds nice…"

"Scorpius, th-" Martha's voice called from outside the room.

She was cut off by a loud bang and the next instant she was flying into the room, literally her body being smashed _through_ the door and flung further back into the corner of the room in a hail of splinters. Her body hid the ground with a painful looking thud, he heard her groan in pain and stir slightly indicating she lived but she didn't get up.

His attention returned to the doorway anyway, he withdrew his wand and positioned himself protectively in front of Calderon – who was helpless in his current state with his magic repressed – to face the attacker. He'd expected it to be Aurors, returning having figured out what happened somehow but he was wrong. Jack Thorne walked into the room, Michael's father, Annie's brother confidently with a dark glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Scorpius was aware of his transition but this was the first time he'd met him since knowing.

Even more surprisingly however was the boy who walked in with him, the very boy he wanted so desperately to save: Antonius Ashain. He didn't see Florian though, oddly enough. Wasn't he supposed to running this whole operation? Regardless, he was going to protect his cousin. He raised his wand and Jack oddly raised his hand, was he adept at wandless magic like Calderon? Scorpius prepared to counter a spell or to levitate something protectively to shield him, however it was useless.

He felt as if an invisible hand had tugged at his heart painfully and then saw the black beam shooting at him from Jack's hand, pain immediately flooded his brain. Beyond his brain, the pain wasn't physical or mental but on a level beyond, his soul. He felt as if he was torn apart inside at any rate, he was aware of nothing but his own agony and all for just a split second.

"NO!"

There was another bang and Scorpius realized he was on the floor, the pain stopped or at least diminished enough to a bearable level. His body still ached as if it had taken a beating except internally somehow, he also now felt groggy. He felt arms around him as he tried to get up, seeing Calderon had dropped to his side and was worriedly trying to help him into a sitting position while Antonius appeared on his other side in the next second.

"Are you okay?" Antonius asked him worriedly as he dropped to his knees beside him with a guilty expression, Scorpius was glad to note he looked in good health.

"I think so," Scorpius admitted and let his eyes skim further, Martha was still down and Jack was lying in the other corner in a pile of splinters that had been a table a few minutes but getting up. He put his hand comfortingly on Antonius' shoulder, "Don't worry, I _promise_ I'm going to get you home to your dad, okay?"

"No, I can't go home," Antonius said with a shake of his head as he stood up and stepped back from him much to Scorpius' surprise, "There's something I have to do. And you too, Calderon."

"Hmm?" Calderon mumbled while Scorpius felt a pang of anger at Florian brainwashing the poor kid to work with his insane plan.

"I have a way to take the Scepter from the Shadow Master, weakening her but she'll still be more powerful than normal people. You're the only one who can beat her, we need your help."

"No, you don't!" Scorpius snapped irritably, "You don't need to throw your life away to stop the Shadow Master or force Calderon to fight, we can find a better way then Florian's delusional ideals."

"I don't wanna fight," Calderon moaned fearfully and clutched at his head, his eyes bulging fearfully.

"Florian may be crazy but his plan makes_ sense_," Antonius insisted, looking somewhere between hurt and determined, "I can do it, I know I can. I have to, the Shadow Master has to be stopped."

"Not like this!"

"_Yes, like this_," Jack's voice spoke except he didn't sound quite himself, Scorpius had almost completely forgotten about him and then his voice seemed to return to normal, "We're trying to end the war, stop the Shadow Master, make a world my son can have a future in. Don't you want that?"

"_Not_ like this," Scorpius reiterated firmly as he stood, still feeling shaky and achy but he certainly wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going down without a fight. Antonius raised his wand uncertainly, looking unsure who to side with.

"We won't touch his soul," Jack growled begrudgingly, seemingly putting Antonius' mind at ease as he went to go stand by Jack while Scorpius felt a pang of hurt at the betrayal, "Now stand aside, Calderon's coming with us. _We can convince him later when that Repressing Potion is not clogging his mind_."

"Right," Antonius muttered and nodded, apparently decided. Scorpius was saddened, shocked and hurt as it sunk into his mind that after all this time worrying and wanting to help him Antonius didn't want to be helped.

"If you want my cousin, you're going to have to go through me," Scorpius said, again positioning himself between them and Calderon protectively, "And I'm not giving up on you, Antonius, you're my friend and I won't stop trying until you're safe back home with the people who love you."

"It's too late for me, Scorpius," Antonius admitted quietly, looking more upset, "I don't know how much you know about it all but… the magic has already been added, I'm going to die."

"Just because the magic has been added, it doesn't mean there's no hope for you," Scorpius told him, managing to keep his voice calm despite the panic that exploded into his mind, "We can find a way…"

"Stop thinking about saving me and start thinking about stopping the Shadow Master, that's what matters. That's what we're fighting for, that's the priority. Everything else can wait until after."

"Y-"

Scorpius was cut off as he noticed Jack twirling his wand while he was distracted by talking to Antonius, a fiery spell shot towards him. Scorpius barely managed to throw up a Shield Charm in time to defend himself but even that felt exhausting, he wanted to counter it but his wand arm felt like lead and it felt like his heart stung painfully. He staggered back slightly but Calderon caught him, he must've stood while Scorpius was talking.

"_You're weak from the attack on your soul_," Jack taunted in the odd voice, "_Since magic comes from the soul, your ability to use spells will be effected until you've had time to recover._ You can't win."

Scorpius wasn't sure if he believed that and at any rate, he refused to give up. He straightened himself determinedly and sent a stunner shooting towards Jack, Scorpius felt like he'd just taken a punch from the gut. Jack dodged his spell before lashing out with an Acutus Curse, Scorpius was forced to cause his own and slash it in the opposite direction to block it, making sparks fly from there invisible blades of invisible spells clashed in the air.

Jack didn't stop there though, he did the same again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Scorpius was forced to counter each time, each time making him feel worse and weaker. He could feel his legs becoming more wobbly, his wand arm becoming heavier and his body drooping. Jack raised his wand to do the same again, Scorpius tried to raise his but his arm trembled and fell.

"_Told you so_," Jack taunted.

"Don't kill him," Antonius begged with an expression of panic.

Jack slashed his wand again but it wasn't Acuta this time, instead a crescent of crimson flames swept out. Scorpius tried to summon the strength for a Shield Charm but failed, the fire struck him and Scorpius screamed in pain as he felt it burn him. He was thrown back from the force of the spell as well, he hit his head on the wall and slumped into consciousness.

* * *

"No!" Antonius whined

He saw his friend spiraling across the room burning, he hit his head and at least stopped screaming as he hit the ground while clearly breathing. Calderon's eyes widened his shock but his body seemed to take a while to catch up, he tried to go to his cousin but his movements were sluggish and Jack/One sent him to the ground with a stunner.

"Why couldn't you have stunned _him_?!" Antonius complained unhappily as he looked to his unfortunate ally.

"_I did_," One insisted with a shrug.

"I meant Scorpius!"

"Because burning hurts more than stunning which pretty much does nothing. _I didn't destroy his soul like I wanted, this is a two way street,"_ One told him with a look of annoyance, "_If you want us to meet you halfway then you have to meet us halfway as well, his soul will be fine and he's not fatally wounded._ Win-win."

"I still hate it," Antonius muttered unhappily, "Glad you didn't do it to Calderon at least."

"We need him at full strength to take down Sal, let's just hope this Repressing Potion wears off in time for him to face her."

"Let's hope he's willing," Antonius added, Jack/One said nothing.

Calderon had seemed reluctant, Antonius hoped it was just because of the potion that seemed to be affecting him since he didn't see much like himself. He wasn't sure anyone else could defeat the Shadow Master, even without the Scepter so they'd be in trouble if he still didn't want to fight. Antonius supposed he could relate to not wanting to fight a sibling but Calderon didn't _have_ to kill her, the Shadow Master would be as helpless as he currently was imprisoned on that potion.

Jack/One walked over to Calderon and crouched to touch his shoulder, he then gestured for Antonius to come over so they could leave. Antonius approached, casting a guilty look on Scorpius. He hoped he'd be okay with that burn just like he hoped Albus would be okay with his injured leg. He felt terrible for hurting his friends, for causing them pain. He wished they'd never have gotten involved, even if he survived the initial fight now they'd probably never forgive him. He was going to die hated by everyone, he wiped the tears before they could spill from his eyes. At least – hopefully – he'd die with them safe.

"I'm sorry," Antonius whispered to his conscious friend as he reached Jack/One and Calderon, noticing the first rays of dawn shining through the bars on the windows. Two days to go. He touched Jack/One's shoulder and the trio vanished into the shadows.

* * *

Albus was having a funny dream about Abby telling him she hated him then sending some kind of carnivorous massive, mutated dog-plant at him, it bit his leg and it hurt _so_ much yet it still hurt more to hear her say those words. He cried that he was sorry, he didn't why but he was. When he turned around she was gone though, Antonius stood there laughing at his pain while Abby walked off with Pentakel beyond. He was glad to wake up.

Except he wasn't lying all nice and cozy in his nice comfortable four poster Gryffindor bed, he wasn't even lying in his smaller, less comfortable bed at home. He was lying on something hard like the floor, in fact he wasn't even lying but sitting in an uncomfortable bend position. And the dream was having trouble diminishing, the pain in his leg was so vivid he felt as if it was real. Wait… It _was_ real. The battle, the spell, Antonius-

Albus snapped his eyes open and risked the urge to cry out as his leg still hurt, he instead bit down hard on his tongue and whimpered at the pain. He was sitting against the wall, he'd fallen leaning against a table or chest of draws or something furniturey at any rate. His leg was out before him, visibly twisted with his knee - and the lower leg with it – had been turned ninety degrees to the right. It looked painful and gross, it felt painful and gross. He groaned in pain, willing for it to diminish but it didn't. Damn it _hurt_. He tried to reach for his leg in the hopes gripping it would somehow help but felt his elbow hit something.

"Ow!" a female voice whined and he glanced to his left to see Rose stirring, rubbing her nose where he'd elbowed her in the face, "Ow, did you just punch me in the face?!"

"No," Albus scoffed as his cousin sat up.

He spared a glance and saw Corin lay on his other side, Maurice a few feet away, a small red-haired boy a few feet away on the other side. Florian slumped in front of the couch, Orous with him and a woman's head and arm sticking out from behind the couch. They were still in the same place he'd been when they'd fought, disappointingly there was no sign of Antonius or Michael's Dad though. He couldn't believe Antonius had attacked them, what was going on? Why would he do that?

"Then why does my nose hurt?"

"Because I elbowed you in the face," Albus said through teeth gritted against his own pain, Rose glared at him, "Elbowed. Not punched, _elbowed_. It's completely different. And an accident. And get over it, my leg feels looks broken!"

"Of course it's broken, legs aren't supposed to bend that way!"

"Stop yelling, I'm trying to sleep- Wait," Corin murmured sleepily before his mind also seemed to catch up, he sat bolt upright with his usual neat hair all unkempt as his beady black eyes darted around the room.

"Why is all the noise?" a child's voice queried and Albus saw the small boy blinking as he sat up, apparently Florian hadn't been lying about a son. The connection solidified by the fact as soon as the boy laid eyes on Florian, he scrambled to run over to him, "Daddy?! Daddy?! Daddy, wake up!"

"Oathan?" Florian muttered tiredly, raising his head and blinking the identical violet eyes. The noise also stirring Orous and the woman behind the couch, only the deaf remained undisturbed by the noise.

"Daddy," Oathan repeated and Florian's eyes watered as he scrambled to sit up and pull the boy into a fierce hug, Oathan hugged him back and sobbed into his shoulder. Florian had a look of utter and absolute relief on his face as he held his son tightly, "I missed you, Daddy. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Florian admitted, tears of his own spilling from his eyes while he smiled, "But its okay, it's okay now. It's over. I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me again, they'll have to kill me first."

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too."

It was almost touching. _Almost_. He hadn't forgotten Florian had murdered Abby's brother, not to mention kidnapping Antonius or the other people he'd killed. He belonged in a jail cell, having a young son didn't change that. The kid would be better off in a dumpster then with that lunatic anyway. The woman slipped away through the door on the other side of the room, Albus opened his mouth to call after her but was distracted by Maurice stirring as Corin was shaking his friend awake frantically with eyes on Florian.

"What are we going to do?" Albus whispered to Rose worriedly, "We shouldn't just let Florian leave but we're not in much state to fight him or contact Dad to come for him."

"I don't-"

"PYRRHUS!" Maurice barked murderously over Rose's answer.

Evidently having woken up, the boy leaped to his feet with his wand back in his hand and aimed at Florian already with a jet of red streaming towards the man. Albus cried out in panic, fearing Maurice might accidentally hit the nearby Orous or the small child Florian still held. Florian reacted quickly though, swiping his hand and a wand rose to slam up a Shield Charm to defend all three of them. He leaped to his feet and it flew to his hand as he did so, protectively placing himself in front of Oathan. Despite his earlier qualms, Albus found himself equally disliking Florian's show of skill.

"Maurice, come on. This is pointless," Florian said and made motions with his hands that Albus knew to be sign language even if he didn't understand it. He'd guess Florian was signing what he was speaking though, Maurice just couldn't hear without his hand on his necklace.

"Pointless?! YOU _CUT OFF MY HAND_! KIDNAPPED MY FRIEND AND MY FOOLISH TWIN!" Maurice raged and cast a vicious looking purple curse but Florian dodged it nimbly.

"We're on the _same_ side!" Florian insisted as he signed again, Maurice had cast another spell at him but he avoided it again.

"No, we're not," Albus scoffed bitterly as Maurice cast yet another spell that Florian sidestepped to avoid, at least he was now far enough away from Orous and Oathan for Albus to root for his friend, "Get him, Maurice!"

"He can't hear you," Corin pointed out testily while Maurice increased the tempo of his attacks, Florian avoided them all with flawless agility with just the occasional Shield Charm, "He's not trying to hit Maurice."

"I don't want to fight you," Florian told him looking serious, signing his words while still dodging, "I want to stop the Shadow Master too, _really_, I have valuable information!"

"Information?" Rose repeated, sounding slightly intrigued but Maurice didn't waver in his assault, "Will you tell us what you did with Antonius?"

"Yes!"

"Maurice, stop! We should hear him out while he's being coherent," Orous protested, also signing and Maurice's eyes narrowed darkly as he stopped firing. He didn't lower his wand though.

"And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your hand," Florian admitted still having to sign his words, looking wary still of attack but sounding sincere.

"Just speak," Maurice growled what Albus was thinking.

"So you agree to a truce?"

"I agree to a truce," Maurice promised and lowered his wand cautiously without taking his eyes off his former mentor, Florian looked relieved as he was also able to lower his.

"Okay," Florian said, taking a deep breath, "First of all and most importantly, the Shadows are going to attack England next. They're going for London on June 6th-"

"_Avada Kedavra_," Maurice cast, cutting Florian off.

Albus was shocked as a jet of green burst from his friend's wand, Florian was too and having relaxed due to the truce he didn't react fast enough. The deadly spell struck him square in the chest, sending his lifeless body hurtling to the ground beside his small son. Oathan dropped to his knees by his father's body, Albus thought he was better off without him. Despite hating Florian, Albus couldn't help but feel attacking him after agreeing to the truce was… not noble and what about the attack now? That had seemed important.

"What the hell, Maurice?!" Orous burst out angrily, "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Not until he finished telling us what he knew at least!" Rose added, not that Maurice could hear them since his hand still wasn't on his necklace.

"I did what had to be done," Maurice announced as he pocketed his wand and folded his arms.

"You killed my daddy," Oathan breathed as he looked up, his eyes finding Maurice and his young expression twisting with rage. He grabbed up Florian's wand at aimed it at Maurice, not looking the slightest bit threatening.

"I-"

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Oathan cried, much to everyone's shock.

Even more surprising was the streak of violent green light that did indeed shoot from the tip, much like Florian he was too caught by surprise to react in time. Corin however must've been paying more attention, he shoved Maurice out of the way but hadn't enough time to then move himself out of the path. Rose shrieked as the spell struck her boyfriend, Corin dropped to the ground.

For a long second Albus had hope. Surely a mere child didn't have the power to kill someone, surely Corin's part giant status could spare him from this. But Corin's black eyes had lost their shine, staring sightlessly at them. Albus felt sick but none more so then Maurice, if the look on his face was anything to go by. He tore his eyes away to glance back to Oathan, the boy had dropped back to the ground and slowly looked away back to his dead dad. He buried his face in Florian's chest, his shoulders shaking from muffled sobs. Rose dropped back down beside him, horror on her face and tears in her eyes, Orous was also staring at his dead friend in tears.

"Corin," Maurice said, choking on the word as tears leaked from the oceans in his eyes before he picked up his wand and stood with it jabbed towards the young killer.

"Don't," Orous whispered and signed the words while more tears streamed from Maurice's eyes.

"He killed C-Corin! He k-k-"

"He's four years old and your brother. Killing him won't bring Corin back to life," Orous said, still signing and Oathan looked to them with a tearstained face, "It'll just be more death. There's enough death."

"Corin…" Maurice reiterated and choked on another sob before lowering his wand, seemingly – although he'd been fooled before – deciding to spare the child and instead burying his face in his hands.

"Everyone put your wands down!" an unfamiliar voice commanded.

They all – except the deaf Maurice who hadn't noticed – turned to the doorway the woman had gone through, seeing she was back with a group of Aurors behind her. Albus wished they'd arrived just five minutes faster. Corin had been alive then, heck _Florian_ had been alive then. Somehow, Albus hadn't realized before just how quickly people could die. And an attack was coming in just a few days.

* * *

**Part 4: **Preparing

* * *

Atticus Ashain paced anxiously over the rubble, his footsteps rushed as he was particularly impatient. He was almost glad his mind was in chaos lest he think about the last time he'd been here when he'd murdered his ex-girlfriend/boss or further back to how this had once been his home, where he'd played in the halls with his brother and laughed at the table with his father. His dark chestnut eyes stung from tiredness as stopped to rub at them in the silvery light of moon, it was rather tedious how his body wanted to waste time eating or sleeping when he had other things to worry about.

"Atty?" Brutus' gruff voice questioned and Atticus spun to see the deformed man standing there, his eyes shifting around uncertainly as he approached him, "What do you want? I'm kind of busy right now."

"Are you aware of what's happened the past few days?" Atticus questioned, seeing no time for pleasantries, "With Calderon missing, Florian dead and those kids-"

"I'm aware."

"You're not the ones who took Calderon, are you?" Atticus asked, feeling like he already knew the answer but still wishing he was wrong. He didn't think he'd ever think it but somehow he felt Calderon would be better off with the Shadows, at least he had some faith in Brutus.

"No," Brutus shook his head in conformation, "It looks like it was One, I think its planning on pitting them both against the Shadow Master."

"Is… Is the attack still going as planned?" Atticus pressed fearfully, feeling incredibly guilty for wanting the answer to be yes.

"It's still happening," Brutus offered cautiously, "But not quite the same way. With any luck though, we should still be able to walk away with Antonius and Calderon safe."

"I need details, Brutus, because I have to be there, I have-"

"No," Brutus cut him off firmly, Atticus scowled and opened his mouth to protest, "It's too dangerous for you to be there, caught up in the thick of it. Not to mention the fact it'll be difficult to explain, do you really want your son to be saved just to go back to the woman who threw him under the dragon in the first place?"

"Well _no_," Atticus admitted in a mutter, "But still, he's my _son_. I have to be there."

"You don't have to be there because _I_ will be there and I'm in a much better position to help then you are," Brutus assured him but Atticus frowned, not entirely sure of his brother while Brutus put a six-fingered hand on his shoulder, "Look, Atty, I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to save your son, okay? But if you're there, you're the one I'll be worried about. I just need you to trust me."

"Trust you?" Atticus repeated in surprise for a moment, considering Brutus' stint as a Death Eater then now as a Soul Eater but he was helping now. Atticus bit his lip, Brutus _had_ been good so far about this and he was in a better position, "Do you promise me, Brutus? Do you promise to return my son to me safely?"

"I promise, Atty," Brutus said seriously, "I promise I'll return your son to you safely."

* * *

Harry Potter was not in a good mood. Sure he was infinitely relieved his son and niece - who along with Orous and Maurice were safely back at Hogwarts now - were alright, sad for Hagrid over the loss of his son, guilty at his feeling of his own failure to find to save them, afraid and anxious for the knowledge of the impending attack not to mention Riddle's disappearance, tired from the stress over the past few days but overwhelming all of_ that _was his frustration. He knew Alaric was weak right now from the full moon last night but England was about to be _attacked_, they really needed him.

At the very least, Harry just needed Alaric's authority to act. Surely he could manage just that? But no, he'd ignored every one of the increasingly desperate letters Harry had sent him while trying to work out a game plan with Hermione and Cel. They'd decided it was best to just evacuate London, let the Shadows have it and live to fight another day. Once – and he hated to think that this – once it was taken, it was also give them a chance to see the kind of forces the Shadows used to occupy a city to launch an effective counter attack.

He just needed Alaric's approval to get things in motion, or at least it was the fastest way to get things in motion and they had to move fast because they had no time. Which is why he showed up at Alaric's house personally, after knocking repeatedly and loudly then giving an excessive amount of time for Alaric to get to the door to account for the fact he wouldn't be moving quickly after the full moon. It finally occurred to Harry that maybe something had happened, using that justification he magically unlocked Alaric's door and entered his house. He stalked cautiously through the house with his wand out in readiness, he saw no signs of a struggle however.

He found his letters though, unopened and left by owls on the kitchen table. There was no sign of Alaric though so Harry made his way upstairs, still seeing no signs of a struggle. The bedroom was the last place he checked but was the room that held his target, after starting to have a shred of faith in the man he was just lying in bed after all while chaos happened. Harry felt his frustrated rage reignite.

"Alaric!" Harry barked at him and Alaric's eyes slid open slowly, unevenly and seemed heavy as if he struggled to keep them open, "London's going to be attacked tomorrow!"

"Wha…?" Alaric mumbled and trailed off with a scowl, he pushed his body shakily up into a sitting position.

"The Shadow Master is attacking London tomorrow, we want to do an evacuation but I need you to approve it so get up."

Alaric swung his legs over the bed while Harry spoke, apparently having decided to get up. He mumbled something intelligible and his head lolled before he fell – much to Harry's surprise – off the bed, his head thudding against the bedside table. Harry rushed over and saw him stirring, he helped the Minister back up onto the bed. He noticed up close how unhealthy Alaric seemed, his sickly skin was clammy and he was blinking heavily as if fighting to keep his eyes open, his head kept nodding as well as if it was too heavy to lift.

"Are you alright?" Harry wondered, he hadn't expected him to be _that_ bad.

"I… th… ull… moon… bad," Alaric muttered weakly before fainting once again except this time Harry caught him before he could hit the ground, instead helping Alaric lie back onto the bed, "No… I need to…"

Alaric tried to speak but he'd slipped back into unconsciousness the second his head touched the pillow, Harry wasn't admittedly an expert on werewolves but he still didn't think Alaric should be this out of it. He decided it was worth getting a Healer to come check him over, both for the sake of in case something was seriously wrong and because he still needed his approval. Or the Healer could declare Alaric unfit and give them temporary rights to make the decisions, allowing for the evacuation he wanted. He contacted the Healer who arrived promptly, Harry had to not very patiently wait for him to be looked over but the same one who'd seen to him before so was currently aware of his situation.

"Well?" Harry questioned as the Healer left the Minister's room, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's just suffering the effects of the full moon," the Healer offered timidly to which Harry frowned.

"Should he really be that unhealthy?"

"No. Usually only those weak like the very young, very old, those ill or injured from some other cause or muggles suffer to the extreme like this," the Healer told him, sounding surer speaking about the diagnosis, "I can only suspect it's because of what happened to his soul, it must've weakened him and made him more susceptible to the full moon effects. I've given him some potions to help his body cope physically but he's still going to be pretty out of it for at least a few days, what he really needs is just to rest."

"Alright," Harry sighed, "But what you're saying is that in your medical opinion he's unable to make decisions as Minister for a few days?"

"He's not going to be properly conscious for a few days so… yes, I would say that."

"I'm going to need that in writing," Harry told her seriously, already gesturing for to follow, "I need to evacuate London, it's going to be attacked tomorrow."

* * *

Brutus Ashain slipped back into the house they were using as a base while in England, it was abandoned or they'd killed the owners or something. He didn't know, quite frankly he'd rather not know, he'd rather not be there at all in fact but at the same time he'd rather be there then _not _be there when stuff was happening. He didn't want them to attack England at all, it was his homeland, where his family lived and he just…

He didn't want that, he didn't want any of it really. He wanted the good after-world but he didn't want this war transition, a part of him really hoped the England invasion would just fail. A part of him knew that would probably be worse though and now he had a nephew to worry about saving, if he ever wanted to have a chance of rebuilding his relationship with his brother he had to save the kid. Plus he would rather his nephew survive anyway, this whole sneaking behind Sal's back thing worried him though. He didn't know how she'd react if she ever found out, he suspected badly.

He located his lover, her slender form leaning thoughtfully out on the balcony with her long wavy dark black hair flowing slightly in the gentle summer breeze. It seemed quiet without his sons, they'd just turned two yesterday so the war had been put on hold pretty much to celebrate but now they were gone back to lands under her control as had Vathan. He missed them, he wished Atticus could've met them too.

"Hey," Brutus greeted the Shadow Master, she glanced back to him as he approached and greeted him with a peck on the lips, "How's it going?"

"I'm worried about Tommy," Sal admitted surprisingly right off the bat, "What One would do to him, what it even _wants _with him, what it wants in general."

"I don't know."

In truth, Brutus hadn't given it much thought with everything else but this was _Tommy_. He could take care of himself once the power-repressing potion wore off so One's plans would likely fail, he was glad she cared about her twin still though. Unfortunately he had meant more about the impeding attack, while he wasn't keen on it he did kind of need it to happen to be able to save Antonius and keep his promise to his brother. Since the Ministry was currently aware and evacuating, he didn't know if this would affect it. He also needed her head to be in game or she'd be more likely to get hurt. At least the evacuation gave him a chance to rescue Oathan for Vathan, he'd set the trackers on it.

"Will this affect our attack?" Brutus prompted while putting his arms around her gently to comfort her about her concern for her brother, her beautiful face looked up at him with a raised eyebrow over her dark eyes.

"Since when were you keen on the attack?" Sal wondered curiously.

"I'm not but if you're going to go through with it then you need to be focused, if you're not then it's more likely to fail and you could get hurt," Brutus offered as he rubbed her shoulder soothingly, it wasn't a lie, "It's scary enough to see you use that Scepter when you _are_ focused, it's a lot of power."

"Well you can put your mind at ease," Sal assured him and stepped back, she held out her hand and the Scepter she'd propped by the doorway shot to her hand. It flashed azure as did her eyes, "I'll be focused when it comes to the attack, not that it'll be much of an attack with the evacuation. Potter thinks he's doing London a favor but it's just making it worse for themselves to lose the home advantage so long as we don't push the attack back to give them time, we'll take the city and the Ministry falls to us with ease. The populace may have escaped but millions of displaced people won't have been able to get far especially not the muggles, our army can congregate in the city then branch out for the evacuees who should be fairly easy to round up. Cel will tell us where they are anyway."

"Right."

"I worry about Tommy because I can, not because it's distracting me. And once we take London, we can put the trackers after Florian onto finding my brother instead since Florian's dead now. With any luck he'll be found as we take England, if not it should be easier to weed out One once we control the whole country," Sal continued, sounding very much as if the entire thing had already been thought out, "Potter's just made this easier, it'll be my first city I take solo and then we succeed where my father failed."

"Wait, what do you mean 'take solo'?" Brutus wondered worriedly and Sal tore her eyes are from the Scepter to look back to him, lowering her arm as she did so.

"I mean since the city will be deserted, I'm just going to show up alone and take it. _Then_ we move in the army rather than them attacking the city with me."

"I got that but I mean, I'll still be with you… Right?" Brutus questioned anxiously, "I'm always with you during these times."

"It's unnecessary though, I'm taking an _empty_ city. You may as well wait with the army and lead them in."

"No, Sal, I should be with you," Brutus insisted desperately as he had to be there to save Antonius which of course she was unaware of and put his six-fingered hands on her shoulders, she looked at him curiously, "What if something goes wrong?"

"I told you I'll be focused."

"And I believe you but just because the Ministry won't be there, it doesn't mean Gray won't or One or some other unknown entity. I know you're very powerful but still, isn't it best to have a second body there? Just in case, things have gone wrong before."

"True…" Sal agreed and looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding with a smile, "Alright, Brutus, you can stay with me. We take London together, tonight so it'll fall in the early hours of tomorrow."

Brutus breathed a tense sigh of relief.

* * *

Scorpius was having a great dream, everything was peaceful and good. He was happy. Until he woke up. The first thing he noticed was the searing pain across his chest, he groaned and moved his hand to his chest as he started to sit up while his head still throbbed dully. He shivered as a gentle breath of wind brushed against his bare arms and realized he was shirtless, his chest bandaged but a comfy blanket didn't fall off him like he thought nor was he lying on a bed although the clothing from his torso had been repurposed as a pillow.

He looked around and saw rocky walls, to his right was an opening where the wind was coming from. He was in a cave. And he wasn't alone, he saw a small figure sitting by the entrance curled up with her knees to her chest and her wavy red hair shifting slightly in the breeze. Events swirled in his mind as his memory caught him up, Calderon, Jack, Antonius… He must've passed out. And from the sunlight, he must've been out a while.

"You're awake," Martha commented as she seemingly had heard his groaning, she got up cringing slightly as she did so and moving more stiffly as if hurt which he recalled she had been. Her clothes looked a bit rough for wear and her eyes had thick black bags beneath them but it otherwise wasn't noticeable, she offered him another bottle of water, "Are you thirsty?"

"I-" Scorpius started to protest but realized he kind of was and took the bottle, "What happened? The last thing I remember is getting hit by that spell."

"You hit your head and passed out," Martha told him curtly as he drank the refreshing liquid, she crouched by him, "Jack/One and Antonius stunned Calderon, vanished with him in a blur of darkness. I saw you were hurt so I did what I could for you and used the bed sheets for bandages, I'm hardly an expert Healer. I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to stick around for when more Aurors inevitably showed up so I took you, found this cave and let you rest."

"You let them get away?" Scorpius snapped in frustration before he could stop himself.

"I was pretty banged up – I still am – took me awhile to get my bearings," Martha pointed out and he sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized unhappily as the weight of his failure dropped down upon him, he hung his head, "The one I'm really mad at is myself. I had them there, both right there. And I failed them. _Again_."

"It's not your fault, Jack/One has powers that aren't usual or easy to counter."

"I don't care! I still failed, all I do is fail!" Scorpius yelled at her angrily in frustration, the pain in his chest not helping his temperament any.

"Do you know what they tell us in the Training Tower about failure?"

"I don't care what they tell you in the Training Tower about failure!"

"Fine," Martha shrugged and moved away, returning a second later with muggle sweets, crisps, muggle sandwiches – they were in muggle plastic containers – plus a handful of blackberries, "But here, you should eat something to get your strength up. Got the muggle snacks from Claudia's town and picked the blackberries from around here, they're good."

* * *

Oathan felt miserable. Completely, utterly and thoroughly miserable. He'd lost his grandpa, he'd lost his mother who had always been mean to him anyway, he'd lost his brother although Vathan wasn't _dead_ \- as far as he knew - but as good as dead since Oathan had no idea where or was or how to get to him and now he'd lost his daddy. His daddy, who'd saved him from all the bad things he had to go through at home in the Training Tower, who took care of him, who let him play, who made him feel safe and loved and happy.

Now he was gone, and it _hurt_. Deep down inside in his heart, it hurt that he was gone. He hadn't realized it was possible to feel so hurt. Everyone he loved was gone. And Antonius had turned on him and his _brother_ had been the one to take his daddy from him, his daddy had been right about people being bad, about them turning on you. His daddy had been trying to help them and warn them about this stupid attack, they'd called a truce but his bad brother had _still_ killed him.

He couldn't stop thinking about it, it played over and over and over again inside his mind, over and over again the lifeless lump that had been his daddy only seconds before thudding to the ground beside him. And those eyes, those sightless glazed over eyes boring into him. And his brother's face, he looked so much like their mother. And his brother had wanted to kill him but the other one had stopped him, Oathan wished he had killed him. Then maybe he wouldn't feel this hurt, maybe he'd be with his daddy again.

Then those people had come and taken them away, but him in chains because he was bad, because he killed that boy with an unforgivable curse and they weren't sure what to do with him. Oathan regretted that boy had died and made those people sad, how was he supposed to know he'd get in the way though? He didn't know why it was a big deal anyway, since when was killing _bad_? Why did they teach them about killing at home in the Training Tower if it was wrong? Why did you have to kill to pass the test if it was bad? Why did Jack/One kill those people if it was bad and why did no one take them away?

Oathan didn't understand. His bad brother didn't get put in chains either because he'd killed his daddy who was 'bad' apparently, it made Oathan feel angry. Who were _they_ to decide who was bad or good? His daddy had been good to him, his daddy had been gooder to him than _anyone_ so why was he bad? He'd even been doing anything bad when he died – when his bad brother _killed_ him – but _that_ was okay? If he deserved to be punished because he took a life then his bad brother should too, what made his daddy's life any less then the boy's? Or Carver's? Aurors had killed him, he didn't see _them_ in trouble. Who made up these stupid rules?!

The world was just against him, just like his daddy had said. He'd been right, he'd been right about everything except for caring about Maurice. The Soul Eaters were right, killing was the best way to deal with an enemy. If his daddy had just killed him and Orous instead of wanting to spare them then Maurice wouldn't have been able to live to kill him instead, dead people couldn't hurt you and if everyone was bad then what did it matter if they died? No one would explain it to him anyway, he'd been taken to a cell in a dungeon. He knew what that meant, back home in the Training Tower it meant punishment and he could only assume this was the same since wasn't the whole point that he deserved to be punished for killing the boy? He was going to get it, those Aurors were going to hurt him and hurt him bad he suspected.

He supposed he deserved it for killing that boy, he had no idea what would happen to him after or how badly they'd hurt him but at least they'd be even. He'd cried so much about his daddy dying that he thought he'd ran out of tears, his eyes stung from crying so bad. Eventually he cried himself to sleep. He hoped that meant he wouldn't be able to cry when they tortured him, he may deserve it but he didn't want _them_ to have the satisfaction. They were taking a long time, he thought either it meant they were busy with the attack about to happen or just wanted to make him feel dread. He'd only seen an Auror once and they'd brought him food, he was hungry but he hadn't touched it. The only reason he could think that they'd bring him food before torturing was that there was something wrong with it, it had to be poisoned somehow.

"Alright, kid," a voice said and Oathan blinked himself awake, seeing an Auror opening the cell door while another stood beside him and his insides froze fearfully at the thought of being tortured. Deserving it didn't mean it would hurt any less.

He followed the Auror shakily though as he was led out, to Oathan's surprise he was led back the way he'd come in through the fancy fountain place. People were all being lined up by Aurors, other people – who he could only assume were masters – giving directions about an evacuation which seemed to be a fancy way of saying leaving the city. He could only guess it had to do with the attack, he hoped the stupid Soul Eaters razed this dumb Auror city to the ground along with their ridiculous rules.

"Where are we going?" Oathan asked his captors as they led him to a fireplace, one of them tossing a handful of dust which made the fire green. Floo.

"New Azkaban prison," one of the Aurors told him as the other stepped into the fireplace with him, "Until this crisis passes and we figure out what to do with you, you'll stay there."

Suddenly they were swirling dizzyingly through space and Oathan was glad he hadn't eaten the poison because he thought he'd surely throw up if his stomach wasn't empty, it was worse than phasing with Jack/One. Unfortunately an end to the uncomfortable travel meant imprisonment and torture, that's what they did to prisoners. Fearfully he wondered how frequently, either they'd hurt him worse but less often or more often but less damaging since they needed to make sure torture victims lived or you couldn't torture them anymore.

He stepped out of the fireplace with a nudge from the Auror, expecting to see a dungeon but instead surprised to find himself in an empty room not unlike some of the places they stayed in. It was empty and covered in dust though, the floorboards looked rotten and the broken windows were boarded up. It hardly seemed secure, was the prison so 'new' they hadn't even built it properly? A second later the other Auror stepped out of the fireplace, looking around in surprise as was the first Auror.

"This isn't New Azkaban prison," the second one said with a scowl.

"Where are we?" the first one wondered in a tone of surprise before the air shifted behind the second, revealing someone hidden by a disillusionment charm who stunned the second Auror in the back. The first one dropped his look of surprise and shoved Oathan at the cloaked figure with a look of boredom, "There you go, piece of cake."

"Well done," the cloaked figure offered before stunning the other Auror who oddly gave no resistance.

Oathan wasn't sure whether to be pleased or afraid, the figure dropped the disillusionment charm and he saw someone else do the same from behind him. He swallowed, seeing they were dressed in black with the same symbol on their robes that his mother had burned into his skin. He trembling in fear, he may not know what the Aurors would do to him but he _knew_ what the Soul Eaters would do to him. He didn't want to go back.

He kicked the man in the groin as hard as he could before turning and trying to flee, the man cried out in pain but managed to grab his arm anyway and wrenched it painfully to force Oathan back. He slammed Oathan against the wall before throwing him roughly to the ground, his face red with rage while Oathan whimpered in fear and pain from the bruises he was sure were now forming as the man raised his wand threateningly.

"_Avada Kedavra_," a familiar girl's voice spoke and the man's eyes just about had time to widen in surprise before the green light hit him, Oathan flinched as the man thudded down beside him dead. Just like his daddy… "Get up."

Oathan scrambled to sit up, rubbing his sore wrist where the man had grabbed him as he looked around. He was surprised to recognize the second Soul Eater standing there, he hadn't given her much of a look when she dropped the disillusionment charm. She was his cousin, Viola. Her violently violet eyes rested on him darkly, her face twisted with hatred. He must've took too long to obey her command because she grabbed him, hauling him upright and half-dragging him away from the bodies to an emptier area of floor before pushing him against the wall and stepping back with her wand still aimed at him.

"What… What are you doing?" Oathan asked shakily and fearfully, he didn't think she liked him very much and he certainly didn't like the murderous look in her eyes.

"Getting revenge," Viola spat at him and her lips curled in a smile so demented and twisted it was barely recognizable as such, "Your father murdered my father and since Uncle Pyrrhus foolishly got himself killed him before I could get my hands on him, I'm going to kill you instead. I just wanted to look you in the eye so when you get to hell, you can tell your daddy that _I_ was the one who sent you there and I did it because of what _he_ did."

"Please don't," Oathan pleaded with tears in his eyes.

He felt tired of all this then afraid as noticed the broken window behind her, the shards of glass. He concentrated like his daddy had taught him, flexing his fingers and the glass rattled obediently unbeknownst to her. He could save himself but he'd rather not have to. He'd had enough of revenge, he thought there'd been enough death. He didn't want to kill his cousin, he'd never killed someone he actually _knew_ before.

"Figures you'd die a coward," Viola scoffed and Oathan tearfully focused as she spoke the words, "Avada-"

"Kedavra," Oathan finished as he clenched his fist, the shard of glass shooting from behind in her and stabbing her through the neck which silenced her.

A crimson spray shot out from the glass and her eyes bulged in fear not madness this time, she crumpled to the ground. She didn't die though or look away from him, she didn't drop her wand. She fumbled with it feebly, shakily trying to aim it at him still. Her mouth opened and closed, spluttering out blood not words. Her movements slowed gradually and finally she went still, her eyes still locked with his own.

Oathan slumped to the ground, leaning against the wall for support. It didn't feel good to kill. And now his cousin was dead. He hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face into them as he sobbed into his jeans, wishing his daddy was there to comfort him or Vathan or his grandpa. But they were gone, they were all gone. And he was alone, he was all alone, stuck in a bad world where everyone just wanted to hurt him or betray him or torture him or kill him or kill the people he loved. He hadn't asked for this, he hadn't asked for _any_ of this.

"Did you kill the girl with wandless magic?" a low slow voice asked calmly and quietly, Oathan's head shot up to see a strange creature was standing there. It was about his height except it wasn't human, it spindly arms and legs but in contrast a large head with eyes that would be big if not narrowed and floppy ears that looked like bat wings. It wore nothing but a crimson sash around itself, "Did you hear me, boy?"

"I killed her," Oathan admitted guiltily to the strange creature, trying to think of magical creatures that fitted its description. A house-elf? "She tried to kill me."

"How would you like to come with me?" the possible house-elf offered without a change in its stern expression or neutral tone of voice, "My master has need of a young wizard of raw talent such as yourself, we can teach you."

"Why would I want to go _with _you?"

"We will ensure you are cared for, that these people-" the creature stopped to gesture around at the bodies littering the place "-shall not find you. Or you can take your chances here alone, deal with the Shadows and the Ministry."

"Who are you?"

"I am a servant of my master."

"Um… why does your master need me then?" Oathan asked with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"I cannot say. Should you choose to come with me you will be told in time however," the creature told him, much to Oathan's disappointment, "So will you come?"

"Erm… Okay," Oathan agreed with a sigh and wiped his eyes.

It wasn't like it could be any worse than staying to face whatever horrors the Aurors had in store for him. Or the Soul Eaters if . ?docid=42190458they tried to take him again, he thought they'd probably be mad that he left. It wasn't like he had anywhere better to go, everyone he loved was dead or gone. Tears continued to bubble in his eyes as the memory of his daddy dying again hit him, dead was gone forever. It still hurt. All that was left was bad people who wanted to hurt him, maybe these creatures were kinder then humans.

"Good," the creature stated neutrally as if he didn't care one way or the other before offering Oathan its hand to help him up, which he took, "If you had said no I would have had to snap your neck."

"What?" Oathan wondered in panic as he stood.

"Nothing," the creature said quickly before there was a crack as it took Oathan away.

* * *

Antonius sat in yet another empty house, sitting in a window seat and summoning a large rock he'd picked up from the outside. He was glad to get his own wand back, aside from the obvious reasons it was important. It felt right to have his wand, he also found the spell came to him easier and felt more powerful with it. Although the latter could just be inside his head. Calderon was lying on the floor in a makeshift bed still unconscious, Jack/One was out.

"_Here_," a familiar voice commented as Jack/One phased back in, tossing him a bag with a yellow 'M' on it, "Got you some grub, you should eat because you have a big day tomorrow. _Or tonight, they may attack in the early hours of the day."_

"Okay," Antonius agreed without argument.

He opened the bag, pulling out a burger and sampling some fries. He swallowed, realizing this may well be his last meal if something went wrong or even if it went right he may still be killed. His last meal could be from a fast food restaurant, his hunger waned. Guiltily he thought of his friends again, if he _did_ die then he'd die hated and the last time he'd seen them would've been in confrontation. He hoped Albus and Scorpius were alright with their injuries.

"_Rise and shine, Tommy boy, you've gotta eat too_," One commented and Antonius' eyes shifted in surprise to see him waking Calderon.

"Scor!" Calderon cried as he jolted upright, spinning in panic while a feeble display of yellow light shone weakly around him before seeming to realize his cousin was nowhere to be found. Antonius thought it was a good sign though, the Power Repressing Potion had to be wearing off.

"_He's long gone_," One laughed and tossed Calderon a bag just like Antonius' while Calderon's face twisted in worry, lights flickered orange before fading, "But alive. So _eat_."

"I'm not hungry," Calderon muttered, narrowing his eyes and shoving the bag aside before folding his arms determinedly.

"_Well now you're just being difficult_."

"Come on, Calderon, eat," Antonius pleaded and the former assistant glanced at him with a slight look of surprise as if noticing him for the first time, he didn't want Calderon to starve. He liked Calderon, he was a good person, "There's no reason for you to go hungry."

"I'm not doing whatever you want. And why aren't you with your dad anyway? Ticcy will be worried sick," Calderon asked of him in confusion before glancing back to Jack/One, "And who even _are_ you?"

"_Don't you recognize me, Tommy?"_ One questioned and Calderon gave a long, hard look as he scowled.

"Nope, never seen you before in my life."

"_I only exist because of you_," One growled, frowning in affront as if offended Calderon didn't remember him. Calderon only looked more confused which just had One look angrier, "_It's me, One. I have a body, I'm a person now, dammit! Remember me!"_

"_One?_" Calderon repeated, his eyes widening, "But- But _how_? You're a shadow of a Dementor, a parasite-"

"It merged itself with Michael's dad's soul, Jack, that's the body he has and shares somewhat with him," Antonius provided and the understanding soaked into Calderon's face, "It's still a parasitic monster, of course."

"Right."

"_I'm not a parasitic monster, I'm a person_," One insisted angrily and Calderon laughed, a shrill high-pitched laugh that seemed several pitches higher than the laugh he should be capable of making. Antonius smiled to himself despite everything, he missed hearing that laugh in the halls of Hogwarts. Calderon laughed and laughed, clutching his sides and wiping a tear from his eye while One continued to scowl, "What-"

"You'll _never_ be a person, stealing someone's body doesn't make you one," Calderon scoffed as if it were obvious, "The fact you think it _does_ just proves even more you just don't understand humanity, you don't have any humanity. Destroying a human life to make your own is wrong, it's intrinsically and morally _wrong_ but you don't get that, you don't feel that. Until you do, you'll never be a person."

"_I am a person!_" One protested defensively as it stood up, removing his wand and jabbing it angrily at Calderon, "_Unlike you, you'll be dead before the sunrises tomorrow. You and Sal both, you'll wipe each other you're so evenly matched. You'll be dead and I'll be alive, who'll be a person then?!"_

"Err… I don't know, Anton?" Calderon wondered and One blasted him with a stunner.

"Hey!" Antonius cried as Calderon thudded unconscious to the ground, One folded their arms unapologetically, "What did you do that for?!"

"_I just wanted to make sure that potion was wearing off, _since we'll need him to use magic to be able to fight," One shrugged as he picked up the bag of food and went to sit down to eat it, "_Clearly it is so there's no reason to keep him conscious when he's only going to be difficult_."

"Yes there is! We need to talk to him about the plan and get him to ag-"

"_Oh please_," One sneered at him, "_We don't give a damn if he agrees, throw him in with her and he'll have to fight. He won't be convinced and we're not going to waste my time on it, you're kidding yourself if you ever thought I was_. You know us well enough to know that."

"I hate you," Antonius muttered irritably, hating even more that he was right. Except about one thing, "And what did you mean by evenly matched and that they'll destroy themselves? The plan was Calderon to win."

"_Maybe_, that's what Florian believed," One shrugged once more as it pulled out its burger, "_I think it's more likely they're just going to wind up killing each other and I know them better then you two do_."

"Well I disagree," Antonius protested defensively but One didn't seem to care, shrugging disinterestedly.

"We'll have to wait and see who's right in the end then I guess._ Not long now_."

* * *

Scorpius thought Martha was right, the food was good although he was so hungry that he would've eaten it anyway. He'd been running – and flying – on empty so he had quite an appetite, one he hadn't realized he had until he started eating. It did also give him a chance to calm down and clear his head. Martha said she'd already eaten her share so went back to keeping watch at the entrance, he hoped she hadn't been doing that the _whole_ time he'd been out and had gotten some sleep.

"How long was I out?" Scorpius asked curiously and worriedly of Martha.

"I don't know, awhile," Martha answered unhelpfully as she moved back over to him, she must've noticed his scowl, "But it's still the same day if that's what you meant, the attack is still set to happen tomorrow."

"Okay."

"You feeling better now?" Martha wondered and somehow Scorpius didn't think she meant his injuries.

"Yes," Scorpius admitted as he finished off the last of the blackberries, "I'm still a failure though."

"In the Training Tower they tell you that it's only a complete failure if it's a waste, everyone makes mistakes but what matters is that you learn. And never give up."

"Don't worry, I'm not giving up. I'd never give up," Scorpius assured her quite truthfully as he was already thinking ahead.

"Good," Martha said with a smile.

"We know where they'll be, confronting the Shadow Master when he- _she_" Scorpius had to correct himself as he recalled Leebin's information, someone owed Roman a drink "-attacks. We just need to be there too, if we get there in time hopefully we can get Calderon and Antonius to safety before the Shadow Master attacks. They need the potion to wear off Calderon if they expect him to fight, he can apparate and he's against the plan so leaving should be easier than getting there."

"You're still against the plan then?"

"Yes," Scorpius confirmed seriously, "Calderon doesn't want to fight and he shouldn't be forced to. And Antonius is too wrapped up in this to think straight, I need to bring him to his family then we can worry about finding a way to save him. A way I'm sure is faster if he's not taking on the Shadow Master."

"But if he's already there and the Shadow Master is already there when-"

"If that's the case then _maybe_ we can try it but he has more chance of surviving if we're there to protect him and we get him out of there the second the Scepter leaves her hands," Scorpius shot out irritably, he had zero faith in Florian's plan and he cared much more about saving the Antonius and Calderon. He wanted to bring the boy home, the way no one had done for him, "It just depends on time. Do you think there's enough time to get back to London?"

"Do you think you can fly with your burn?" Martha countered and he nodded.

"My chest was hit not my back so it shouldn't affect my wings. You still want to come?"

"Of course," Martha nodded and stood determinedly, "I'm going to see this through to the bitter end, if you fly fast enough anyway."

"I'll fly fast enough," Scorpius promised, both to her and himself. He would. He _had_ to.

He got up and awkwardly put his shirt back on over his bandaged chest, he felt a bit stiffer and stingy then he would've liked. Regardless, he didn't think it would affect his flying much if at all and wasn't giving up. If he failed at least he would fail trying, not lying pained in a cave. It was if they got there it would be bad, neither he nor Martha would be at the top of their game. Still though, he got ready then transformed – and tried very hard not to cry out in pain at how it aggravated the burn across his chest, it settled down once his form was stable again – and let Martha climb onto his back before taking flight once more.


	18. Chapter 18: Life and Death

_**Parts (68-70)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 18  
**

Life and Death

* * *

**Part 1: **The Summoning

* * *

"It's time," Jack's voice commented and Antonius' eyes snapped open as he felt himself shaken awake gently, he jerked his shoulder away in annoyance.

He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep when he took a break from practicing, he hadn't even realized he _could_ sleep considering everything. Looking around, he was also shocked to see they were no longer in the same place but a rather fancy looking hotel room, he was propped next to an unconscious Calderon on a window seat.

He barely had time to digest this before Jack/One grabbed his and Calderon's shoulders, phasing them and an instant later they were outside in the cool night air. They were now sitting on grass on the edge of a tree line, he could make out the dark outline of a city though beyond that and he saw a road not far away to his right. He scowled, it was a main road, a motorway with multiple car lanes. He'd expect it to be packed, even at night he thought main roads like that still had traffic even if it wasn't as much as during the day, he heard no engines and saw no lights though. The road was deserted.

"What happened to the road?" Antonius asked in confusion as he stood, scratching his head.

"Ministry must've heard about the attack, the city's been evacuated," Jack provided for him and Antonius noticed an odd azure light, he turned thinking Jack/One had used a spell to make light but instead saw it was more distant. It looked kind of like a star floating in the sky, an azure star except it was still much too close and large for that, "_That's her. The Shadow Master, she's heading this way._"

"Wait- _What?!"_ Antonius shrieked in shock, he decided that was the last time he was ever resting his eyes.

"_Yep_," One said with a nod and patted him on the shoulder, "_Well good luck, I advise you hold off on reviving Tommy for as long as possible to ensure he doesn't try to escape_."

"You're leaving!?" Antonius burst out at them as it turned to leave, it looked back to him with a bemused expression, "What about the plan?! What about everything?! You're just going to go?!"

"_You actually thought I'd stick around? When the only two most powerful people in the world I fear who could destroy us are going to fight after you take that Scepter?"_ One wondered before laughing, "_No. I don't have a death wish. _We may phase in and out a bit to see how it goes_, _try get the Scepter away once you get it _but I'm not going to stick around for when she arrives,_ she could very well kill me on sight. You may be willing to throw your life away for this but I'm not, I've worked too hard to live. So bye."

On that note, Jack/One phased away in a shadow of darkness. Antonius was left alone with an unconscious Calderon at his feet and the most powerful Dark Witch the world had ever seen, or at least that Antonius had ever seen.

He felt treacherous fear bubbling up from his pounding heart as the azure star drew closer and he approached it like a moth to a flame, he shakily drew his wand with sweaty hands but stood with it ready all the same. He hated that he was scared, if he died now he'd die alone as a coward, he might die for nothing if Jack/One wouldn't be here to destroy the Scepter. He wished he wasn't alone, he didn't want to die alone.

He felt tears prick his eyes but the wind whipped them away as the Shadow Master drew closer, the star clearly taking on a humanoid shape at a closer proximity – albeit glowing in azure light still – holding a distinctly Scepter shape with an orb of the strongest shade of the blue light. The Shadow Master didn't seem to notice him from so high up in the dark, the head looked focused on the city. He could practically feel the power emanating from it, he could certainly hear the thrum of the magic. His own wand felt… _different_ somehow in his hand, stronger.

Oddly he thought he heard a distant voice call his name but it was lost in the sound of the wind and power, he almost looked around to see the source before his eyes snapped back to the Shadow Master. He couldn't be distracted now, it was the moment of truth and he was probably imaging things in his fear. He _had_ to do this. He felt he was forgetting something though… Calderon!

"_Renneverate!_" Antonius cast quickly.

He jabbed his wand back at the dark lump that was Calderon, he'd almost forgotten and Calderon was crucial. Now more than ever, maybe _he_ could destroy the Scepter once Antonius got it instead. If he got- no he would, he had to. He was vaguely aware of the flash of light and it connected, he didn't turn to see Calderon stirring though. If he waited any longer the Shadow Master would be over his head. It was now or never.

"_Accio Scepter!_" Antonius cried into the night and aimed his wand into the heart of the star.

Antonius wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to happen, usually the object just flew to his hand but not in this case. He saw the Scepter shape shudder and crimson sparks fell off it, he focused and concentrated on willing the Scepter to him…

The Scepter jerked out of the Shadow Master's hand in a burst of red light with flecks of navy, it started floating towards him. The Shadow Master held out her hand to the Scepter but it didn't stop, she waved her hand again and an azure tendril shot out and grabbed hold of it. Antonius' will didn't waver though and it cut through the tendril, continuing to hover to him. This seemed to piss the Shadow Master off, he saw the blue figure wave its arms wildly to whip up a tempest. A literal tempest.

The wind lashed around brutally, he heard Calderon cry out as he was thrown back. Antonius refused to be moved, he felt a pain his heart but pushed through it crimson sparked around him and his feet became rooted into the ground. He stood, fighting the force of the wind he kept his wand and focus on the willing the Scepter to his hand, he thought he could see a red light but he could barely keep his eyes open from the force of the wind battering him, he couldn't hear for it deafening him either.

He felt a final tug and the Scepter of Night shot into his free hand, he didn't know whether it was because she was weakened without the Scepter or just in shock of losing it but the wind stopped. Antonius felt unsteady on his feet and took a second to take in the Scepter, it looked exactly as it had two years ago. The thick wooden handle with all the symbols carved into it and the emerald orb resting on two silver snakes that were coiled around it, Antonius could sense the power it possessed. Now… how to destroy it? And how to _not_ die right now? Where was Calderon? Was there any chance was going to reappear?

"How is-" a woman's voice started to say and he realized it was the Shadow Master, her voice sounded so… _normal_. He still couldn't see what she looked like through the azure light but she did lower to the ground before him, he saw the humanoid light shape shake its head, "It doesn't matter, you can't take my Scepter if you're dead. Do you want to give it back to me or do you want to die?"

"Never!" Antonius cried defiantly, raising both the Scepter and his wand while internally he started to panic. He had no idea what to do now, Jack/One was supposed to be _here_, Calderon was supposed to _agree_.

"I'll take that as a no then," the Shadow Master mused with a hint of regret before raising a hand, a pulse of azure light shot out.

"NO!" Calderon screamed and jumped protectively in front of him, holding up his arms as he did so and a golden wall of light slammed up. The azure pulse struck it explosively, it seemed to block it but the force still pushed Calderon back and threw Antonius off his feet.

"Tommy? What are you doing here?" the Shadow Master questioned in a tone of surprise.

"I don't know, protecting Antonius from you apparently," Calderon commented, sounding rather uncertain before throwing his hand out at her and an arch of light flung out from his hand at her, "Leave!"

"No!" the Shadow Master yelled and waved her hand, sending his arc of azure light to collide with his and they both burst into a shower of light like a firework, "Stop fighting me, Tommy, dammit!"

"I have to," Calderon muttered unhappily sounding tearful as he held up his hands once more, firing a beam of light back at her which she was forced to slam up a protective blue shield that deflected the beam into a tree which burst into flames.

"Antonius?" a gruff, vaguely familiar voice said.

Antonius turned, having to blink awkwardly as staring at the intense lights for so long had made outside of that just blackness. The figure stopped by him and offered a six-fingered hand to help him up, giving away his identity as Brutus Ashain, his uncle. He reluctantly took the hand to get up, shifting the wand and Scepter into the same hand while an explosion of lights continued between Calderon and the Shadow Master.

"Come on, I'm going to get you out of here," Brutus told him, sounding serious, "I'm going to get you home to your dad."

"Really?" Antonius wondered in surprise and Brutus nodded, Antonius felt a flurry of cautious hope as he still wasn't sure he could trust this man. He also sadly realized he couldn't go, not yet and he was reluctant to leave Calderon too, "I can't, I have to find a way to destroy this first."

"You can't destroy the master's Scepter," Brutus stated as if it were obvious, his deformed face screwed up in what might've been a scowl, "In fact, just give that to me."

"No, I have to destroy it!" Antonius snapped and pulled away from his uncle, "Either help me or leave me alone!"

"Leave him alone!" an extremely familiar voice cried and Brutus narrowly managed to jump back away from the proceeding stunning spell, Antonius turned in surprise and saw Scorpius Malfoy standing there.

* * *

The first thing Scorpius noticed when they drew closer to London was the azure blue light, clashing with the pale yellow light just like last year when Calderon had fought the Shadow Master. He noticed an odd absence of light from the city though, it was pitch black. There was no lights coming from the buildings, no lights from the street and the roads seemed utterly deserted, devoid of any sign of muggle vehicles or life. Had they known this was coming and ordered an evacuation?

He supposed it was good for them but he was very much focused on other things, namely his panic at the thought of being too late. Calderon had to already be fighting his sister - which he hadn't wanted to do – and what of Antonius? He was barely breathing as he flew closer to the action, finally feeling a pang of relief as he laid eyes on Antonius on the ground clutching the Scepter in one hand. Scorpius landed in time to see Brutus attacking him, as soon as Martha leaped off he transformed back – painfully, his chest still hurt from the burn and transformation aggravated it - and sent a stunner at Brutus.

"Leave him alone!" Scorpius yelled protectively while Brutus managed to dodge his spell, Antonius stepped back and Martha pulled him aside protectively.

"I'm not trying to hurt him," Brutus insisted, holding up his hands as if innocent, "I want to get you back home to your dad."

"He wants to take the Scepter!" Antonius provided and Brutus rolled his unevenly placed eyes, "I have to destroy it."

"Give it here," Martha said.

Scorpius didn't turn to look at them to see what she'd do but he heard mutter spells and spell fire behind him, he instead sent another stunner at Brutus who avoided it again so he instead swiped his wand through the air with Acuta. Brutus' eyes bulged but with impressive reflexes, he managed to whip his wand out and counter it before it could strike him.

"Look, I don't want to fight you okay?!" Brutus protested testily.

"I'm sure you don't," Scorpius scoffed, "But I'm not giving you Antonius or the Scepter!"

"I-"

"Any idea how to destroy this thing?" Martha wondered from behind him as he sent another stunner at Brutus which the older man masterfully deflected.

"I don't know!" Scorpius complained as he tried to focus on dueling Brutus, slashing at him twice in rapid succession with Acuta but Brutus blocked them both, "Varanian was just going to chuck it in the Veil in the Ministry."

"The Ministry…"

Scorpius thought he heard running but he didn't stop to look, instead aiming a spell at the ground that caused the ground to quake to throw Brutus off. The man seemed to plan for this though as he jumped, jabbing his wand back down with a white pulse that stabilized it. Scorpius slashed an Acuta at his legs as he landed though but Brutus still managed to swipe his wand in the way to avoid it, Scorpius had half-expected that though so was already sending a stunner spiraling towards his chest while his arm was still swiping away the Acuta.

Brutus threw himself out of the way, somehow managing to keep his balance. Scorpius slashed his wand at him with Acuta again, and again, and again, with practiced precision except this time with his rage to put more power in it. Rage at himself for being so late, so much of a failure. Brutus had annoyingly good reflexes though, catching each clash with ease as if he'd been doing it all his life.

"Would you just stop?!" Brutus snapped at him in annoyance, as he abruptly ducked one of Scorpius' Acutus instead of blocking it and jabbed his wand at Scorpius' ankles to send him spiraling to the ground, "Seriously! Have you not noticed _they_ are fighting?! And you're wasting time with _me_?! This is the time for a truce not a fight! Don't you remember what happened last time they fought?!"

"They almost destroyed each other," Scorpius recalled as he sat up, Antonius rushed to his side with an anxious expression.

Scorpius was glad he'd fallen on his back not his burned chest, he was rather ashamed to find himself feeling out of breath and worn out from the duel however while Brutus seemed unfazed. Brutus was making no move to attack him, he had his wand in hand but it was held loosely and not aimed at him. Scorpius risked a look to the tumultuous clash of power happening nearby them, he couldn't even _see _Calderon or the Shadow Master through the overwhelming mass of blue and gold. He saw the damage though, much of the trees were burning and the earth was scotched or patchy with holes or grooves where magic had struck them away. If he wanted to save Calderon, a truce was probably the best way to go.

"Okay," Scorpius agreed reluctantly as he got to his feet, "Let's call a truce."

* * *

Martha tried Fiendfyre, she tried some destructive blasting curses, she even tried the most unforgivable of curses but the Scepter endured it all just smoking it off. Antonius watched her fail worriedly. She figured destroying it was a priority rather than helping Scorpius and the Shadow Master battle was far beyond her capabilities, from the way Brutus was dueling she could see he was clearly holding back and not trying to hurt him.

"Any idea how to destroy this thing?" Martha wondered of Antonius, thinking maybe he was aware of some special way her uncle had figured out or something. The boy looked taken aback at being asked however and to her surprise, it was Scorpius who answered.

"I don't know!" Scorpius snapped without looking away or breaking concentration from his duel, he must've thought her question was aimed at him, "Varanian was just going to chuck it in the Veil in the Ministry."

"The Ministry…" Martha mused thoughtfully.

Her sleep-deprived still aching mind did still click things into place, the Ministry was in London, they were in London – least the outskirts – and the city seemed to have been evacuated which probably included the Ministry. If Muggles had left - which they seemed to have – then they had to have heard it from wizards who'd probably left too, it shouldn't be hard to get in and she could chuck it in this Veil. She scooped up the Scepter and started to run, her battered body groaning in protest..

"Where are you going?" Antonius called after her as he followed.

"To destroy it," Martha assured him and it must've satisfied him as he stopped following her.

She bolted, pushing herself to run as fast as she could despite the discomfort because she hadn't been very successful at healing herself plus she'd had no rest and little food since she'd left Hogsmeade a few days ago. She lit up her wand for light and had to wave it over the muggle signs, trying to navigate her way through a city she'd only been to a handful of times and had only been to the Ministry once. She had a good memory though, of course she did because it was a good trait for soldiers to have so they made sure they did.

"_Where do you think you're going with the Scepter?_" a newly familiar voice questioned.

Martha glanced up to notice the man – sort of - Jack/One standing in the darkness like a shadow in the night, leaning against a muggle… metal pole thing that normally lit up at night. He raised his hand but she wasn't going to let him get her this time, she brandished the ancient scepter at him as she would her wand and dove into his mind.

* * *

"So how do we do this?" Scorpius wondered of Brutus with a scowl, "If we try stop Calderon then he may just get obliterated by the Shadow Master with all this energy flying around."

"Or vice versa," Brutus commented.

"Well yeah but we don't care about…" Scorpius started to say but trailed off as he recalled Brutus was the Shadow Master's lover.

"Look out both of you!" Antonius snapped.

They turned as the boy jumped between them and the waring siblings as a wave of yellow light swept in their direction, he held up his wand and there was an explosive burst of crimson light flecked with navy. It seemed to shield them from being hit by the burst of raw magic but they were still thrown back from the resulting shockwave, even the muscular Brutus was flung backwards as if he was no more than a children's toy. Scorpius groaned in pain as he bounced off the grass and landed on his front, clutching at the stinging burn as he got to his knees and saw a shadow of pain on Antonius' face.

"Are you alright?" Scorpius asked worriedly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and Antonius looked at him in surprise before his expression faded to one of guilt.

"I'm really sor-"

"Now is not the time," Scorpius cut him off, jerking his head in the direction of the battle before noticing Martha's absence, "Where did-"

"She went to go destroy the Scepter," Antonius told him quickly and Scorpius nodded, he thought he could trust her with that, "And Jack/One ditched me here."

"I think we should divide and conquer," Brutus commented as he came over to them, crouching low and waving as his wand which caused the ground beside them to flow up like a wave then freeze in place as a solid lump to shield them from attacks, "I take the Shadow Master, you take Tommy and we try convince them to calm down. If they both calm down then people are less likely get obliterated, failing that we can try physically subduing them ourselves since I don't think spells will hit."

"Can't you just apparate one of them away like you did before?" Scorpius wondered but he shook his head.

"No, someone's put up anti-apparation wards. I can break them but it'll take too long."

"Specter… teleporting then?" Antonius suggested.

"No, they'll be obliterated if they try transporting someone using raw power like that."

"Okay then, I take Calderon, you take the Shadow Master," Scorpius agreed with Brutus' plan and ducked frantically as the top of their earth shield wall was blown to smithereens, showering them in dirt, "We have to move fast."

"What about me?" Antonius asked.

"You go hide in those trees for protection," Brutus commanded and Scorpius was actually surprised to find himself in agreement.

"But I-"

"You did your part, you got the Scepter," Scorpius interrupted, jabbing his finger at the trees, "It's done, the focus now is getting everyone to survive this and that includes you so get in the trees and be safe. It doesn't take two of us to talk to Calderon. Okay?"

"Okay," Antonius reluctantly agreed and scurried quickly over to the tree line.

"Ready?" Brutus asked of him once Antonius was safely out of sight.

"As I'll ever be," Scorpius said as he took a deep breath, "I'll give you a minute to get closer to the Shadow Master, then we try get close enough to be within speaking range. If it doesn't work in five minutes we try to stun them, if that doesn't work them we tackle them."

"Good luck," Brutus offered with a nod of acknowledgement before tearing away in the opposite direction.

Scorpius waited as promised, finding it both easier and harder to see with Brutus' failing earth wall blocking out some of the clashing magical energies. He waited until he saw Brutus a similar distance from the Shadow Master as he was from Calderon before making his move, he saw Brutus figure nod at him as if an acknowledgement it was time to go. Scorpius returned the nod before bolting towards the blur of blinding yellow light that was Calderon.

Scorpius tried to call for his cousin as he ran over the thrum of power, feeling as he was into a wind so violent he could barely feel his feet touching the ground. As he got closer he could see it wasn't just a blur of light, Calderon and his sister were shooting lightning bolts and bursts of flames at each other that were being blocked explosively by more.

Calderon wasn't looking healthy, fissures crept around his skin with crimson oozing through the cracks. And that was the parts of him _not _glowing, pale yellow light bled from other parts of him and the skin around it looked burned. The half of his face that wasn't unhealthy luminous was streaming tears, gulping down sobs.

"Calderon!" Scorpius screamed desperately at his cousin, being acknowledged by the shift of his eyeball but he didn't break away from his battle with the Shadow Master, "You need to stop this! You need to calm down! You're going to destroy yourself!"

"I know," Calderon choked out tearfully, somehow his words managing to be heard over the roar of power and Scorpius was taken aback, "My life is over, Scor, I know that. Everyone keeps saying I have to stop my sister, that I'm the only one. So this is it, she can't stop attacking me or she'll die then it's over either way. We were born on this day and we'll die on this day."

"No! Calderon, no!" Scorpius cried, horrified at the thought of his cousin dying like this, "You're wrong! It doesn't have to be this way! Just walk _away_, we can all walk away alive today."

"You walk away, you get out of here. I'm trying to make it so we don't die in a explosive destructive destroying everything way like my ancestor but I still wouldn't want to be around me right now."

"I'm not leaving you! I'm not letting you die!" Scorpius protested determinedly, his tears – or maybe the magic-wind – stung his eyes as he whipped out his wand, "_Stupefy!_"

His spell streaked out towards the target of Calderon, it was aimed perfectly and struck just where he'd intended. Except it _didn't_. When it got close enough, it just sizzled in the blinding yellow and died. Brutus was right, spells were a bad idea.

"See? You can't stop this so just _go_, please just go."

"I'm not leaving you!" Scorpius insisted, there was no way he was going to just let his cousin die, "Calderon please, this is insane."

"I said go!" Calderon shouted, "I don't want to hurt you, Scor."

"I'm not leaving without you!"

Scorpius made to run closer to Calderon, if he could tackle him then he could Portkey them away. Brutus hadn't said _that_ wouldn't work, he could Portkey back immediately by himself and grab Antonius then they'd _both_ be back safely with Gray, with Varanian. He could worry about Martha after, for now just walking away alive with his suddenly stupidly sacrificial and suicidal friends would suffice.

To his surprise, Calderon tearfully flicked his hand at him causing a bolt of yellow light to fire at him. Scorpius tried to throw himself aside but the wind slowed his movement, it still caught his shoulder and he screamed a he fell to his knees with his shoulder now searing from a fresh burn. He gritted his teeth against the pain.

"I'm so sorry!" Calderon shrieked, his body jerking oddly as the light engulfed his whole face, "But please, go! Get to safety, just _go_!"

"Not without you!" Scorpius insisted determinedly.

He wasn't going to fail, he couldn't fail. He'd come too far, come too close. If he couldn't stop the Shadow Master, he could at least save the people he cared about. He pulled himself to his feet, trying to trudge further on to reach Calderon through the forceful wind still battering him and upsetting his burns. He wasn't leaving, he wasn't leaving him, he wasn't losing him or Antonius so they could both forget about dying.

"Forgive me," Calderon whispered, his words almost entirely lost in the wind.

He was almost at Calderon, he was so close he could almost touch him and reached out the hand from his non-injured shoulder. He heard Calderon scream a high-pitched screech that was joined by another as Scorpius' world exploded into pale yellow light, he threw himself forwards at Calderon desperately. He refused to let him die, he wasn't going to lose him, he wasn't going to lose anyone.

"NO!"

* * *

**Part 2: **Defying Death

* * *

"Sal! Sal, you have to stop this!" Brutus cried through the blinding azure light emanating and swirling from his lover while yellow bolts were crashing through from Tommy, horrified to see her skin cracking with blood oozing out while other areas were glowing with blue light. The strain and pain on her face was still obvious though, "SAL!"

"Brutus?! What are you doing?!" Sal complained at him – having to yell over the thrum of the power - and idly threw one hand back while the other remained outstretched, he immediately felt himself being battered less by the… everything, "Get back! You'll get hurt!"

"You're going to hurt! You and Tommy are going to destroy each other, you have to calm down!"

"I am calm! Tell him to calm down!" Sal yelled, "If I stop, I'll be destroyed. I have to match his power or I'll be blown away, I think he's finally lost the rest of his mind!"

"Scorpius is talking to him, you both have to stop-"

"I TOLD YOU _CAN'T_! Just go! Get to safety" Sal cut him off as the light seemed to engulf her completely, so bright he had to look away, "Brutus go! I can barely protect myself, get to safet-"

Sal's sentence became a scream of pain that he heard mix with her twin's before his world exploded in a chaotic burst of azure light, he was thrown someway into the air. In the blink of an eye the light was gone and the thrum melded into the wind, he hit the ground and rolled as his suddenly dark world spun.

* * *

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU DIE, I WON'T FAIL YOU, I WON'T LOSE YOU!" Scorpius screamed, crying as he continued running forwards through the yellow light where Calderon had stood, "I _WON'T_!"

He reached out to his cousin, trying to grab him and then pain. Scorpius felt an unbearable burst of raw agony tear through his soul, he presumed from the magical energy around him. It'd hurt more to lose his cousin though, his friend. He cried from the pain but he wouldn't let go, he wouldn't stop. He had to grab Calderon, then he could hold him tight and pull him away from this battle.

He felt like he was succeeding, he felt he had a hold on Calderon despite his fingers not feeling anything tangible. His cousin tried to squirm from his grasp but Scorpius wasn't going to let him die, he wouldn't. He screamed at the rush of pain crashing through him but it was lost in the deafening rushing of power around him, he couldn't see through light in his vision but he didn't let go. He _wouldn't _let go.

And then he fell. Scorpius felt his body hit the ground, thudding onto the grass with his hand grasped tightly around a wrist. The light vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a void of darkness while the thrum of magic dissipated into the blowing breeze. The pain receded but he still felt an ache in his heart, his chest which he was unfortunately laying on, shoulder and hand – the one gripping Calderon – were stinging as well.

* * *

Martha immediately saw that Jack/One's mind was very much not like other minds, she could tell that just from the surface thoughts alone. It wasn't uncommon for people to have several surface thoughts at once, even about different things or conflicting opinions but it was for them to be _different_. Each mind was unique and as such everyone had slightly different thoughts, it was like everyone had their own font and color which every single one of their thoughts were in. Except in this case.

He had two separate thought patterns, two distinct styles but it still wasn't the end to the oddity. One was clearly Jack's, it was clearly _human_. But the other wasn't, its thoughts seemed shadowy and blurred in comparison, rougher somehow more like a child but not. It was harder to understand, kind of like having to squint to bring into focus. Her mind didn't like having to do this, her head still hurt from the mental stress of all the Legilimency she'd been using over the past few days and dealing with One's mind was more draining then regular minds since it _wasn't _human. It was odd though, the thoughts weren't a jumbled mess like an insane person either but still with distinctly different layers of the mind.

She'd actually expected two minds but delving further in brought her to the same places, just with the two separate patterns of thought in each. Two separate minds trapped in the same skull, merging together gradually it seemed as some were harder to distinguish with One's thoughts becoming clearer and Jack's more shadowy, some more so then others. She waded through their mind, finding more signs of their separate identities in their memories but the thoughts and desires were being more corrupted by each other. One was stronger, it had a very strong sense of self which served it well but it was still losing itself just as Jack was. It was quite ironic really, she could see its desire and what it wanted more than anything was to be its own person not just the shadow of one.

It wasn't normal but it was still a mind, she hoped she could still control them because she could use some help getting to this veil. She searched his memories and was surprised but pleased to see One had been to the Ministry before, albeit as a Specter and even more importantly knew where the Veil was. She saw it through its eyes, the stone archway. She quickly and eagerly shoved his mutilated consciousness aside, gaining control over the body to teleport – or phasing as they were apparently calling it – her and the Scepter to the Ministry.

She had him take her arm and phase into the chamber by it, she felt a pang of relief that quickly turned to horror as One kicked her out of their mind. In her haste, she'd utterly forgotten about putting his consciousness in his subconscious so they wouldn't be able to interfere.

* * *

Brutus pulled himself into a sitting positon as soon as it stopped, dizzily turning and blinking through the sudden void of darkness lit only by the hint of color starting to seep into the sky. He spotted Tommy first, his glazed eyes sightlessly aimed in Brutus' direction while smoke drifted up from his still body. Scorpius lay beside him but his head was away from him and it was too dark and distant to tell if he was breathing, Antonius was scrambling out of the trees to go to them. He was glad his nephew but felt a horrible pang of sorrow for Tommy, his heart also started to beat faster.

"Sal?" Brutus questioned and his head swiveled to his lover, noticing her lying also with smoke floating over her scorched body. He scrambled over to her and saw her glazed eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky, he felt as if his heart stopped in shock and he fumbled to press his fingers to her neck in desperation to find a pulse. Nothing, "Sal…"

Brutus choked on a sob and pulled her body to him, cradling her gently in his arms. He couldn't believe it, he _literally_ couldn't. She was so powerful, so strong, she and Tommy were the most powerful magical people on the entire planet. And now they were dead, just like that. A minute ago she'd been alive. Just a minute ago. Why hadn't he _done_ something? What kind of stupid plan had he come up with to _talk _them down? He knew them better than that, he should've known that wouldn't work. He was such a fucking idiot.

And now they were dead. The two people he'd been explicitly told to protect, he hadn't protected them though. He rocked gently back and forth as the tears dripped from his eyes, he didn't even have a scratch on him. Sal had protected him instead, if she hadn't would she still be alive? She'd been the biggest part of his life for so long, how could she just be gone? Just like that, the blink of an eye. _That's how death works_, his mind reminded him. Now their sons had no mother, the Soul Eaters had no leader. Well, he was relieved about that at least.

He scowled angrily at himself but he shouldn't shake the sliver of relief, he was glad her death meant the war could end. And he _hated_ himself for thinking that. He cried harder, holding her closer. If she was alive she'd remind him the world would be better when it was over, she'd smile at him the way no one else did and wipe the tears from his eyes then probably squeeze his hand because she always fucking wanted to hold his hand. He couldn't believe she wouldn't hold his hand anymore, he stared up at the sky as the grief tore at his heart and the tears wouldn't stop streaming from his eyes. They may have been born in a prison cell exactly forty-one years ago to the day, to almost the hour but they'd died free, under the sky. He thought they'd like that, they were free now. And he was alone.

* * *

Martha was thrown violently back into her own mind, she felt as if she had a bell bouncing painfully off the insides of her skull and making her whole head ring. Jack/One tightened the grip on her arm and threw her, slamming her – she groaned as it aggravated the bruises she'd gotten from their prior fight – into the solid stone archway where she slumped to the ground.

"_Brat, I'll make sure you never get in my head again_," One growled and raised his hand, her mind flashed in panic briefly as she couldn't cast a Patronus to stop him.

"It's not really _your _mind is it?" Martha shot out and raised the Scepter – it was faster than drawing her own wand since the Scepter was already in her hand – to try pierce his mind this time. Spells couldn't block his soul destroying but maybe jumping into his mind could, if she could get control again maybe she could stop it.

"_What is that supposed to mean?_" One demanded as she dived into his mind, they were on guard this time though and ready so it didn't work.

"You think you're in control and that Jack's the only one losing himself but he's not!" Martha yelled and trailed off as her sentence became a scream of pain.

She didn't know if it was intensified or diminished because she was still in Jack/One's mind but it _hurt_, she felt as if her soul was being destroyed. She tried to think because she couldn't die, not until the Scepter was gone. She had to do something but she couldn't cast a Patronus, what else would repel them? It wasn't like she could attack his soul- Or could she? He may be preventing her from controlling his mind but the rest of his mind was open, she threw herself into their emotions and shared her pain with them.

Jack/One screamed as they felt her pain, they weren't in danger themselves but they let her go anyway to stop their own pain. She was aware of her body slumping weakly and breathing heavily, he may've let her soul go but her head felt ready to split in two. She didn't leave Jack/One's mind though, if she did she'd be dead. Not that she expected this to stop them for long, she couldn't fight him in his current state though. All she had was his mixed up head that was Frankensteined together of Jack and One… She wondered what would happen if she divided them again, was that even possible? Only one way to find out. She was determined to do this, if she failed she was dead.

She gathered up her strength before digging deep, taking a mental step back and somehow taking hold of both Jack and One's individual minds recognized by their unique thought patterns. She then started to pull the apart, she saw a distant orange glow from the Scepter as the orb lit up. She was using it as her wand, she suppose in that moment she also had access to its power. It was probably the only reason she'd managed all this, it also gave her a confidence boost. If it was possible for her to pull their minds- their very souls apart, now was the time.

* * *

Scorpius didn't know whether he passed out or just zoned out for awhile but he realized he could hear crying, it sounded like a child. He also noticed he didn't feel good, maybe that food Martha had given him hadn't been so good after all. He opened his eyes, able to see as the sky now had a hint of navy in it now as dawn must be approaching. He gasped in horror at the glazed eyes staring back at him. Calderon.

He recognized his cousin, even if his face was cracked. The skin riddled with the same cuts that had been creeping through his body before, blood still clinging to some of them. Patches of that were blistered, burned to various degrees, his clothes all torn. It looked painful, Calderon had died in pain. Scorpius choked on a sob as he pulled himself to his knees shakily, prying his fingers off of Calderon's wrist and was vaguely aware of Antonius sitting on Calderon's other side crying. Scorpius had failed, Calderon was dead.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said, the words thick and muffled as he buried his face in his hands as tears fell from his eyes. He was never going to get to speak to him again, never going to be able to get Calderon to safety, never hear his damned demented laugh again or see those flurry of random lights. All because Scorpius hadn't been good enough, he hadn't been better. And now Calderon was just _gone._ And after everything Calderon had done for him, for the world and all the support he'd given him. He didn't realize how hard he was crying until he tried to speak again and the words came out as a pathetic croak, "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Antonius assured him sounding tearful himself and Scorpius felt a small hand on his shoulder, "You tried."

"It wasn't good enough!" Scorpius snapped at the boy, turning to him and was barely able to make the boy through the film of tears, "I failed, I failed him. Calderon deserved better! After everything he did, after everything he'd been through… He _shouldn't _have died here, he should've died _old_, in Hogwarts where he belonged, where he loved… I think- I think he would've liked that. He deserved better. Not to die now, not like this. He shouldn't have died in pain after a year of being locked up like a prisoner for something he didn't even do, he deserved better and I failed him…"

"I know," Antonius croaked crying, "But if it's anyone's fault its mine, Florian gave me the chance to back out but I didn't. I never- I never thought- I thought he'd win against-"

"The Shadow Master," Scorpius finished his sentence in panic and spun to look for the source of all evil, he was shocked by what he saw however.

A few feet away Brutus was kneeling, facing in their direction and cradling a woman. She was slender with night black wavy hair, maybe a bit longer then shoulder-length and was dressed all in black as well that was all ripped similarly to Calderon's. Like Calderon she was injured too, her skin cracked and burned as well. Also like Calderon, she was unhealthily still and her glazed over eyes were staring sightlessly right at him. She was dead.

Scorpius was so shocked that it startled him from his grief for a minute, somehow it hadn't occurred to him that Calderon would actually have succeeded in taking his twin with him. He stood slowly, struggling a bit to move as his shaking legs threatened to buckle. He was still vaguely aware of unwell but that was unimportant as he shuffled over to the pair, up closer he noticed Brutus' eyes were puffy and red as if he'd been crying. The muscular man wiped them as he approached and gently- ever so gently, laid the woman down on the ground. He pushed her eyelids closed tenderly as he noticed it, she still was dead now and drew no breath.

"Is that the Shadow-"

"She's the Shadow Master," Brutus confirmed quietly, looking sorrowfully down at the woman, "She's dead, they're both dead."

"I can't- I can't believe it," Scorpius stammered out, finding it hard to believe just like that it was over, "Does this mean-"

Abruptly the Shadow Master jolted upright, Antonius screamed – making Scorpius realize the boy had followed him – and joined him and Brutus both in jumping a panicked foot back in the air. She gasped for breath, shakily and unevenly where she hadn't been before. Scorpius took Antonius arm and backed him away, trying to smother his surprise. Of course she'd probably planned to… come back from the dead… somehow with… Specter powers or something, that sounded like the Shadow Master he knew. Brutus' deformity made his expression hard to read but Scorpius got the look of utter shock, he hadn't expected this either.

"Sal- Sal, ar- are you-" Brutus stammered out as he crouched beside her, the Shadow Master glanced at him and his eyes only seemed to bug further out of his skull.

"I'm alive," the woman confirmed, her voice a weak rasp and Scorpius noticed she looked unexpectedly as surprised as the rest of them.

"You- You were-"

"I was dead, I know. And now I'm not."

"_How…?"_

"I have _no_ idea," the Shadow Master stated firmly, sounding rather certain about her uncertainty, "Did you do anything?"

"What would I do?! You were _dead!_" Brutus spluttered out and the Shadow Master cocked her head to one side thoughtfully.

"True. Hmm…" the Shadow Master mused, her expression shifting to one of worry before Brutus hugged her tightly as if just relieved she was alright, "Well I'm glad to not be dead all the same."

* * *

Martha pulled harder causing her own skull to flare in agony at the mental effort required but it started to work, she _felt_ their conjoined mind starting to tear apart. Jack/One screamed, they fell to their knees clutching at their head. She kept pulling, feeling them ripping further apart but had to scream herself as she felt her own mind tearing too. She was now confident she could to it but not that her own mind wouldn't be destroyed in the process, if this would destroy as dark a creature as Jack/One made as a soul destroying monster then it was worth it. She just had to destroy the Scepter first, make sure the Shadow Master couldn't find it with their corpses. She dropped the magic as she felt her mind starting to crumble.

Jack/One fell to the ground shuddering and she left his mind, practically collapsing back into her own weak body with the searing pain in her head threatening to overwhelm her for a minute. She may hate the Shadows and their cruel methods but they had trained her well about dealing with pain, she shoved through it. She'd rest when she was dead or the mission was complete, whichever came first.

Martha picked her body up, dragging the Scepter with her and the ancient artifact scraped the stone ground loudly in the silent chamber. Her legs threatened to buckled beneath her and she gripped onto the archway to stop herself falling in, she knelt there breathing heavily and her body swaying in time with the tattered black curtain. She just had to throw it but the Scepter so heavy, she tried to raise her arm but it was too heavy to lift, so was her head- heck her _eyelids _were too heavy to lift. She tried to keep her grip on the archway, couldn't fall in.

"_You can do it…"_ a familiar voice with an odd eerie chill whispered, Martha raised her head.

"Carver?" Martha wondered tearfully, shivering suddenly and not sure if she'd imagined it. No reply.

It gave her strength regardless though, she had to do this. So Carver wouldn't die in vain, so the world had a chance, so her family had a chance. She pulled herself back to her feet, this time her legs trembled but didn't buckle. She swung her arm back to throw the Scepter in, only for a hand to grab her wrist before she could.

"_You were right, brat, I am losing myself_," One hissed into her and twisted, she gritted her teeth against the pain as her wrist snapped but nonetheless she kept her fingers wrapped around the handle, "I'd have never sought to destroy such a thing otherwise, why destroy what I can keep for myself?"

Martha summoned the last of her strength and twisted around, grabbing Jack/One with her free hand and pulling them both into the Veil. She heard Jack/One yelp before shadowy darkness engulfed her, Jack/One phased them away before they could fall into it. She then hit the ground painfully but it did seek to serve as separating her from Jack/One, she rolled away from him and sat abruptly and was relieved to see they were still in the chamber with the Veil.

She pulled her body up into a run towards the Veil, too quickly and weakly so she started to fall. She flung the Scepter towards the Veil, somewhat awkwardly with her broken wrist before she fell. She hit ground and heard the Scepter hit the ground with a ping, she raised her head and saw it bounce off the stone and slip into the Veil. The Scepter of Night was gone.

Martha might've smiled to herself if she had the strength but instead, her head hit the ground with a painful thud. She knew she should get up, she should _try_ deal with Jack/One while she had the chance – the Veil might kill them – as he was unlikely to just do nothing or get back to Scorpius outside but she was wiped.

* * *

Scorpius was quite sure she hadn't noticed him or Antonius, he was also starting to wonder if he wasn't dreaming. The _Shadow Master_ was _hugging_ someone, she was supposed to be a monster. She _was_ a monster. Calderon was dead because of her, just like his grandfather, his sister, Varanian's dead wife, Molly's parents, Vern's parents, a bunch of other Weasleys, a bunch of other people in general. Not to mention all the pain she was responsible for even if she didn't do it directly, destroying people's homes, destroying people's lives, the magic ripping out of people's souls, the muggles' abuse, the harsh methods and screwed up way the Shadow soldier kids were treated, the horrific torture Leebin had been put through, the people who'd been turned into werewolves… Calderon had died to stop her and she had the nerve to return from the dead, acting like a perfectly sane human being.

"Wait, what about Tommy?" the Shadow Master asked Brutus, snapping Scorpius away from the rage starting to bubble up from deep inside him, "Is he okay?"

"He's not okay, you murdered him!" Scorpius barked angrily and withdrew his wand, she noticed him _then_, "I hoped you like hell because I'm sending you back there-"

"Yeah… I don't think so," the Shadow Master muttered and lazily flicked her hand, his wand went flying. She opened her palm to him and Scorpius was sent flying, landing on his butt and bouncing painfully to land by Calderon.

"Scor!" Antonius cried and ran over to him as he started to sit, looking anxious, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Scorpius growled irritably at how easily he'd been taken down, he held out his hand, "Give me your wand."

"Y'know if _I_ came back then Tommy _has_ to as well," the Shadow Master was commenting to Brutus as he helped her to her feet.

She seemed slightly unbalanced – reminding Scorpius that she was injured aside from the wounds to her face and hands - and almost fell before Brutus steadied her, now was the best time to fight her and finish what Calderon had started. Antonius placed his wand into Scorpius' hand and Scorpius jumped back up to his feet, slashing a vicious Acutus at her.

The Shadow Master laughed, holding up her hand firmly. His spell sparked as if showing signs of connecting but didn't do any damage to her hand, instead he was thrown back in pain as he felt as if a blade tore through his already injured shoulder. He grunted in pain and felt Antonius' wand go flying from his hand once more.

"Is the best you can do, cousin?" the Shadow Master taunted, "I'm not even _trying_. Not so strong now you severed the connection to me, are you?"

"Well we took your Scepter!" Antonius snapped defensively and stepped protectively in front of Scorpius, Scorpius quickly got to his feet as he didn't like that, "It's probably destroyed by now."

"And?" the Shadow Master scoffed, closing her eyes briefly, "I can't sense it anymore so maybe you're right but if then so what?"

"So what?" Antonius repeated in confusion as Scorpius stood by his side.

"So did you really think taking my Scepter would stop me? Did you actually think it would leave me powerless? I was powerful a long time before I found the Scepter and now I have an army of millions from all the countries I've claimed, apparently I'm _immortal_ I'm so powerful," the Shadow Master pointed out and Scorpius watched Antonius' face slowly fall, "Did you really think I wouldn't have studied it enough to be able to recreate it? Except this new one won't have whatever connection to you that allowed you to manipulate it away from me, in fact _thank you_. I didn't realize there was a flaw like that, I'll make sure to fix that for the next one."

"Well we're not going to give up! _Accio wand_," Antonius protested, his voice cracking as if he was trying not to cry. To Scorpius' surprise, Antonius' wand actually flew to his hand. Scorpius tried to non-verbally do the same.

"_Accio wand!_" Scorpius tried aloud, holding out his good hand but it still didn't work. He scowled, had he really lost his talent with spells from severing the connection? Or was it just had Florian just taught Antonius to do this? Or that Antonius' wand was special?

"You still suck," the Shadow Master quipped and held out her hand again.

"_Protego!_" Antonius cried and a silver shield slammed up, it did nothing to stop him and Scorpius from being thrown back.

"So _weak_. You're a disgrace to the powerful blood that runs through your veins."

"We should leave," Brutus urged her pleadingly, "If Tommy hasn't woken up by now then I don't think he's going to."

"He will!" the Shadow Master shrieked determinedly a bolt of azure lightning shot down out of the sky, crashing into the road with enough force to cause the ground shake while clumps of concentrate were blasted up from the road. Thankfully, they weren't close enough to be in the road to be hit by the blast radius. Only Brutus acted like this was a normal event yet Scorpius didn't think it was intentional on her part. She may have more control then Calderon, but stronger emotions must still cause outbursts of powerful magic, "If I'm powerful enough to defy death then so is he!"

"I don't think so, Sal," Brutus whispered gently and as much as Scorpius wanted him to be right, he thought he was right. It was much more likely that whatever reason she had for returning from the dead was to do with her dark shadowy powers, Calderon hadn't been in to that stuff. Calderon was good. He was… Scorpius shamefully blinked away tears as he stood and saw the Shadow Master do the same, he was alone in feeling sweat on his brow though despite the cold wind.

"This is your fault," the Shadow Master decided, turning on him and Antonius angrily and raising her hand, "You forced him into this, I'll kill you both-"

"No," Brutus protested and grabbed her wrist, her eyes shifted to him in annoyance, "Scorpius wasn't even here when it started and Antonius is a child, someone put him up to this. This wasn't their fault. Killing them isn't going to make him wake up or bring him back, it'll just leave two more dead family members to bury. Let's just go home."

Scorpius thought Brutus was quite mad and stepped protectively in front of Antonius, speaking to the Shadow Master like that was just going to get him killed. A part of him thought he should do something more but either grief or fatigue was making it hard to think straight, he didn't have to though. After a long glare at Brutus, the Shadow Master yanked away her arm and lowered it. He still wasn't convinced he wasn't dreaming, he _was_ feeling lightheaded.

"Okay," the Shadow Master agreed quietly before throwing a dark look back to them, "Never let it be said your new ruler is incapable of mercy."

"Of course," Brutus said, his tone one of evident relief while the Shadow Master strode slowly over to Calderon with Brutus following, crouching beside him before snapping her fingers and taking hold of his wrist.

"Let go of him!" Scorpius snarled, coming out of his odd stupor to rush at them but she sighed and waved her hand, flinging him back again.

"He's _my_ brother, I'm taking him," the Shadow Master snapped, "Brutus apparate us, I broke One's wards."

"Can't you apparate?" Antonius questioned in a tone of surprise.

"I could learn to if I want to, I just choose not to," the Shadow Master said testily as Brutus placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No!" Scorpius called weakly – he felt as if he was going to throw up – as he reached out but Brutus disapparated with the children of Voldemort anyway, he hit the ground in frustration. She was right, he _was _weak and now Calderon was truly gone.

* * *

**Part 3: **The Struggle of Souls

* * *

Scorpius sat there numbly, staring out into the sky as the dawn light slowly started to bleed into it. He couldn't believe it was over, just like that they were gone. He buried his face in his hands, wondering what in the world had ever possessed him to do _this_ of all things. Now Calderon was dead and the Shadow Master was stronger than ever seeing as she was apparently immortal, how were they ever supposed to beat someone who could return from the dead?

"I'm sorry," a small voice muttered and Scorpius glanced up to see Antonius sitting beside him, blinking back tears, "I swear I didn't know this was going to happen, I really thought- I really let myself believe we could do it. I got sucked into Florian's lunacy, I never meant for Calderon to die. He- He always just seemed so invincible, you know? And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

On that note, Antonius broke down crying. Scorpius looked at his young friend for a moment, a fresh wave of grief crashing against his heart as he recalled that Antonius had still doomed himself to an early grave. Not if he could help it though, well he failed at everything but he thought Rojer had a chance. If anyone knew it was Rojer considering what he knew about soul, if he didn't then... Well, Scorpius didn't want to think about that. He pulled the boy into his arms to comfort him, even though his tests Scorpius recognized the surprise in his eyes.

"It's okay," Scorpius assured him gently, patting the kid's shoulder gently to try be comforting.

"D-Don't you h-hate me?" Antonius stammered out, much to Scorpius' surprise.

"Of course I don't hate you. Don't get me wrong, you made a mistake. A very bad, serious mistake that you absolutely shouldn't make again," Scorpius added quickly, not wanting to give the wrong impression, "But we all make mistakes, you're my friend and I forgive you. What matters is that you learn from them, we just need to keep you alive to do that. That's what we need to focus on right now, C-C- that's what he would've wanted."

"He did fight to protect me," Antonius murmured, fresh tears welling in his eyes and Scorpius hugged him rightly back, wishing he could do more then be useless right now, "But I'm still sorry about everything, I should never have believed Jack/One for a second and- Are you okay, Scor? Your skin feels really hot."

"I'm fine," Scorpius brushed it off, not wanting to admit he felt ill. It was just his grief really, the strain of the past few days probably hitting him quite physically right now.

"Hey," a gruff voice said and they both leaped to their feet in an instant, spinning and going to draw wands they didn't have to aim at the speaker. Brutus. Scorpius went to glare but to his surprise, Brutus must've collected their wands as he tossed them over to the correct owners, "Looking for those?"

"What are you-"

"I'm not here to fight you," Brutus cut Scorpius off firmly, he nodded in Antonius' direction as the boy quickly wiped his eyes, "I'm going to get my nephew home safely and that's that, I don't have a lot of time so get a move on. She broke the wards so I can apparate you back to Hogwarts, or at least outside it."

"Bring back Calderon!" Scorpius demanded immediately, aiming his wand at Brutus with a treacherously shaky arm though. He wasn't afraid, he just felt cold on the outside while inside he felt as if he was on fire and his flame-churned stomach wanted to hurl.

"I can't do that, I'm a Lieutenant not a deity," Brutus stated as he lazily batted aside Scorpius' wand, "Come on, do you want to go home or not?"

"Why is she even _alive_?"

"I have no idea, I _swear_," Brutus insisted before looking around as if nervous, "Now come on, I don't have a lot of time and you look like crap."

"So do you," Scorpius snapped back irritably and wiped the film of sweat forming on his brow.

"Trust me, okay!? I'm trying to help! I could've stunned you in the back and took you anywhere just now but I didn't."

"Okay," Antonius agreed rather surprising although he still eyed his uncle with caution as he approached, "Take us back, there's nothing left for us here."

"We should at least talk about this," Scorpius complained, raising his wand shakily again while Brutus offered Antonius a hand. The other boy took it and Scorpius put a firm hand on his shoulder, fearing if Brutus did apparate- Brutus chose that moment to apparate on, "Dammit!"

"What?" Brutus complained as they reappeared after an unusually long moment of apparation, Scorpius yanked Antonius away protectively, "We're here."

"That's the point," Scorpius snapped as he looked around, seeing indeed they were in Hogsmeade rather near the Hogwarts entrance, "The point is we're enemies, stop being so damn confusing and pick a freaking side!"

"We have the same goal right now," Brutus insisted before gesturing in the destination of Hogwarts, "Now get you get Antonius back home safe, okay? I can't go any further without arrest but _you _can so damn well make sure you get him to safety, do not let him leave your sight until he's with my brother, make bloody sure he's okay or you'll find out what I'm like when we're not on the same side. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I want him to be safe even more then you do," Scorpius snapped and wondered if Brutus knew about how Antonius was dying right now.

"I'm right here," Antonius pointed out irritably.

"Your job is to stay away from crazed psychos and don't get in the Shadow Master's way, I won't always be able to save you."

"I-" Antonius started to say but Brutus disapparated, "My uncle is a hard guy to understand."

"Tell me about," Scorpius muttered, his body shivering while sweat dripped down his brow. Antonius scowled at him worriedly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine! Now come on."

"What are we going to do anyway?" Antonius wondered, "Just walk up to the Aurors and ask to be let back to Hogwarts just like that?"

"No," Scorpius shook his head, "Besides, I want see Rojer first."

"Why? I want to see my dad," Antonius admitted.

"I know but if we caught up with the official Aurors and all that crap, it could be ages before we get to speak to Rojer. He knows about soul, if anyone knows how to save you then its him and I'm sure your dad wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer to see you if it could save your life."

"I guess but how do we get past the Aurors?"

"With a Thestral of course," Scorpius said and tried to muster the will to smile. He failed. He cast a quick Disillusionment Charm on Antonius who just looked confused, "When I transform, climb onto me and I'll fly us to Rojer's tower. Since Thestrals are known to live here, they shouldn't think much of one flying over."

"I don-" Antonius started to say before gasping as Scorpius transformed back into a Thestral, as Antonius climbed on he was sharply reminded of Martha. Where had she gotten to? Had she destroyed the Scepter successfully? Would she be alright to get back by herself? He could only hope so and felt kind of bad for forgetting her. Then again, Brutus hadn't exactly given him much choice anyway, "Okay? I'm on."

Scorpius tried to tell him to hold on tight but his voice came out only as inhuman Thestral noises, he didn't think Antonius would understand that. Instead he simply spread his wings and took off into the lightening sky, glad it was a short flight as he felt… weaker. He reached the window of the Alchemy Tower quickly, finding it closed but unlocked so it was easy to kick open with his hooves.

He sailed in and landed carefully, trying his best not to knock anything over. It seemed to work, it was easier when the tables were clear as they were now since obviously there was no class at the crack of dawn. He waited for Antonius to get off him, having to jerk his back to try make him get the hint when Antonius didn't seem to realize this. Antonius hastily clambered off and Scorpius reverted back, panting heavily and feeling rather queasy.

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?" Antonius asked him worriedly.

"Yes!" Scorpius snapped testily and removed the enchantment from Antonius before staggering over to the door he knew led to Rojer's quarters, he took a deep breath and once more wiped the sweat from his brow before knocking. No answer. He knocked louder. No answer. He knocked louder, wondering if the Alchemist was even there and got a garbled reply in a foreign language, "Rojer! Rojer, are you there?! We need your help."

"Go back when the light is," Rojer grumbled sleepily – and sounding rather displeased - from the other side of the door, Scorpius stopped knocking and instead leaned against it for support as his legs were shaking so badly, "I is sleeping."

"Rojer please, it's an emergency. It can't wait," Scorpius pleaded and heard the man groan irritably, there were sounds of movement before the door opened to reveal the alchemist. He seemed to have just gotten up, he was dressed but his hair was rather disheveled and his scowl was more irritated than usual, "I'm sorry for waking you but… please help if you can, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate."

* * *

One couldn't believe it, it really couldn't. This whole time it had thought it was going well, that it finally had the body and life had long since craved, that it was free at last from having to live – to _exist _in the shadows of life as a parasite. But no, it wasn't. This whole time it had been deceived, it had been losing itself as surely as Jack was. And it hadn't even realized it, the whole thing was a nightmare.

"What does this mean?" Jack wondered weakly but slightly hopefully, whatever the girl had done to them had left them drained with their heads in agony, "For us? If this defeats the whole reason you wanted to merge with me, does that mean you'll leave me alone?"

"_Of course not, you fool_," One sneered irritably as it paced them idly, "_I still have no idea how to separate us and I don't know enough about this whole thing to know what to do."_

"We should ask the girl."

"_We should_," One agreed and they unanimously stalked over to her fallen body.

"Don't hurt-" Jack started to say but One ignored him as it gave her a violent kick to wake her, she groaned slightly but didn't wake. It kicked her again. And again in annoyance, her lack of consciousness also provided little pain to feed off of, "Clearly that's not working! Stop it!"

"_Fine_," One grumbled and grabbed her instead, hauling her up and shaking her roughly, "_Girl! Wake up, girl!"_

"That's not what I meant!"

"Wha…?" the girl mumbled sleepily and One threw her back to the ground, she bounced painfully off the ground and groaned again as she attempted to stir. It kicked her again.

"One! She's a child!"

"_She was powerful enough to do something to your mind, that's connected to your soul. She's a powerful Legilimens, she's not a child but a soldier. One of the Elites the Training Tower pushes out except this one is clearly rogue. I'm not attacking her soul," _One explained although left out that it feared her attack again if it did, plus it needed answers and it didn't want to accidentally destroy her soul because they'd get no answers then.

"Still," Jack insisted sulkily and One cursed the stupid morals of the man, missing when he was less objecting and vocal.

"_Wake up!"_ One snapped at the girl and kicked her again, she clutched weakly at her side where it had kicked her, "_You can't just drop a bombshell like that then go to sleep after destroying such a powerful artifact, do you even know what we could've done with that kind of power?!"_

The girl muttered something unintelligible and it yanked her up into a sitting position, her head lolled and it punched her as hard as she could in the face. She cringed and turned her head back to face him, trying to open her eyes and failing. It felt Jack resisting and objecting to the treatment but he kicked the mortal's mind away, he wasn't as strong as One was.

"What?" the girl wondered tiredly, spitting out blood as she spoke, "I can't…"

"_What did you do to us?"_ One demanded.

"I don't know."

"_How do I keep my mind while merged?"_

"I don't know," she repeated, her head lolling once more and it struck her violently once more.

"_Pay attention to me!"_ One yelled and she managed to open her eyes a crack, her body lolled again and it shook her in frustration, "_And stay awake! I have questions!"_

"She's too weak," Jack insisted and managed to make it let go of the girl, she fell back already looking asleep again, "Whatever she did to us took it out of her clearly, if she even knows the answers then she's in no state to tell us."

"_Fine, then she can die_," One snapped angrily and raised their arm, feeling Jack resisting but he lowered it anyway – and not because of the mortal or his morals leaking in – because it didn't want to kill her. She'd done what no one else had and made it realize something it hadn't before, she could be useful. Killing her in frustration might end up coming back to bite it, "_Alright, we can spare her. We better dump her back where we found her, I need to do more research on this. We can come back for her if we have need of her."_

"How kind of you," Jack quipped but regardless crouched by her and they phased to the street they'd picked her up on, One was glad to see the city was still standing in the dawn light. It liked all the pretty colors even though it disliked light in general.

More importantly though, it meant the plan seemed to have been successful to at least _some _degree to stop Sal. The only two people who could destroy it – at least with certainty, it wasn't sure what the girl could do to them – may be dead, oddly it felt a slight… pang of _sadness_ at this. After all, they had given it life along with the world's crappiest name. A name nonetheless though, an identity which was more than the other shadows had. His brethren remained rather mindless.

Of course the twins had turned on it eventually and for what? For protecting them? It wasn't its fault it had to feed off pain to survive, it hadn't chosen this life. It didn't even want this life, it wanted one of _their_ lives. Humans, who didn't have to be enslaved to another being in order to not cease to exist. One had to find a way, neither enslavement or death appealed to it, it didn't even get an afterlife the way they did. It didn't know how long it had before it started losing itself to Jack either, it still didn't even know if it was possible to separate them but now it may be necessary.

There had to be some way it could get control, maybe there was some way to rip out of Jack's consciousness and replace it completely or destroy it beyond repair. Or maybe it would need to find another host, maybe someone with less of a mind then Jack like someone who was brain dead or had been kissed by a Dementor or maybe even just a very small child or baby. It didn't know but it was sure that it _would_ find a way to live, dammit. It would.

"_Let's go_," One said to Jack and they phased away from the unconscious girl, "_We should go rest, we will have much to research._"

* * *

"Fine," Rojer growled, glaring between the pair accusingly as he limped over to his table at the front of the class and sat. He propped his head up on his head and gestured for him to on with the other, "So what is this? Tell me fast so that I can go back to the sleep. And you owe me this one, I do _not_ like to have been awoken."

"Maybe we should leave him," Antonius pointed out, looking slightly fearful of the still glaring Alchemist.

"Do you want to die?" Scorpius hissed at him and approached Rojer shakily as he wiped the sweat off his brow again, wondering if he was aware of their disappearance as he gestured to Antonius, "Its Antonius, I don't know if you know that he was missing."

"Well there he is," Rojer stated irritably and pointed to Antonius, "He is there, not missing. Problem is solved. Why did you wake _me_?"

"He was taken as part of a plot to get the Scepter of Night off the Shadow Master, to make him more powerful they ripped the magic out of someone else's soul to add to his."

"Do you know this will kill him?" Rojer pointed out and Scorpius pulled up a seat, feeling as if his legs were about to buckle.

"I know. That's why I came to _you_," Scorpius said quietly, feeling his heart start to race as Antonius' life may very well rest with Rojer's next answer, "You know more about soul then anyone, do… do you know a way to save him?"

"No," Rojer stated bluntly and Scorpius gripped the table for support as he felt as if he'd fall off the chair otherwise, the weight of the news hitting him with the force of a thousand bricks. He desperately did not want to cry in front of Rojer but found himself incapable of choking on a sob, he'd just lost Calderon and now Antonius… "But I may be able to make one up."

"R-Really?" Scorpius wondered, lifting his head hopefully and blinking through the tears as the ever-grim face of the Alchemist.

"Why not? Alchemy is all about the experimentation, this has not been done before but I know theory and more than the most," Rojer shrugged before glancing at Antonius, "But know that this will hurt, to hurt the soul is the worst of the pain there ever was. Whether I have success or not, you _will_ suffer and it may have all been for nothing. Do you agree to this?"

"Do- Do I _agree_?" Antonius repeated in confusion, Rojer rolled his eyes.

"I will not knowingly inflict pain onto you if you do not feel agreement with this, you are the one suffering not Scorpius so you must have to agree on your own."

"Oh right," Antonius muttered and took a deep breath before nodding, looking fearful though, "I'll do it. Not like my soul hasn't been hurt before."

"I'll be right here with you," Scorpius promised and squeezed the boy's hand comfortingly while Rojer wandered of back into his quarters, Antonius scowled.

"Your hand feels like it's on fire and it's all sweaty, your sweat is freezing."

"_I am fine_," Scorpius repeated not for the first time as Rojer returning, downing a potion before jabbing his wand around. The doors and windows slammed shut and locked, he also recognized the casting of a Silencing Charm, "What are you doing?"

"We will not get very far if he is screaming and people come," Rojer said as if it were obvious without looking at him, he gestured to the table and shoved a vial into Antonius' hands, "Drink and lie down on this."

"Okay," Antonius muttered, swallowing the liquid – making a face as he did so, indicating it didn't taste particularly good - nervously as he climbed onto the table – ironically the station Scorpius usually sat at in class – and lay down on his back, "Like this?"

"Like that," Rojer confirmed and took a breath while his expression remained grim and focused as usual, he started flicking his wand over Antonius in a serious of rapid complex motions with his wand while the empty hand hovered over also making movements, "Did they not add the whole of the magic?"

"No, just part. Jack/One insisted on taking it from an innocent man so I said to only take part, I hoped it would mean he would leave."

"This was either the cruelest or the kindest, he will not be in a good way but if this can work he will have be better off than if he did just die with this magic missing from this soul."

"Does- Does anyone feel like- like they're floating?" Antonius wondered, his tone becoming almost dreamy while Rojer continued his wand movements unperturbed as he had done for the rest of the conversation.

"Is just you, the potion was to strengthen the soul," Rojer said, still focused. He was so focused he was barely blinking, Scorpius thought he was seeing things that only he could though.

"You took that Eye of the Thestral potion, didn't you?" Scorpius asked curiously, Rojer nodded still without looking at him.

"Yes, seeing of the soul might be useful here," Rojer told him before pausing, taking a deep breath, "Alright, this is where we go."

Rojer held his hand roughly over Antonius heart and started waving his wand over it in a circular pattern, the ten year shuddered. He raised his hand higher and Antonius screamed, his face twisting in agony. Rojer slowly raised his hand, making short slashing movements with his wand that started to spark slivers of light. Antonius just kept screaming, screaming and screaming as he writhed on the table and tears exploded from his eyes. Scorpius hated seeing him in so much pain but Rojer had warned, the Alchemist wasn't missing a beat.

"STOP IT! STOP!" Antonius shrieked at the top of his lungs, Scorpius thought the silencing charms were well advised, "STOP! STOP! YOU'RE KILLING ME! STOP! IT HURTS, STOP IT! _STOP!_"

"Hang in there, Antonius," Scorpius offered and made to stand to go over to hold his hand or something, the wave of dark dizziness was so overwhelming though that he staggered back into his seat and had to grip the table to stop himself passing out. He felt as if he was on fire, "Hang in there, Rojer will save you."

"You did agree," Rojer muttered, remaining impressively focused without flinching from his task, if he was bothered by the child screaming in agony he didn't let it show.

Antonius just kept screaming, howling in agony and shrieking for them to stop. Scorpius lifted his head as soon as he thought the motion wouldn't send him spiraling onto the floor, he saw a ring of crimson light now rested around Antonius' heart below Rojer's still rising hand. He was continuing to make slashing movements with his wand, Scorpius noticed the higher he raised his hand a different light was rising from the circle over Antonius' heart.

There was a final burst of crimson light and a twisted screech of pain from Antonius that barely sounded human, his body arched in a way that looked painful and an orb of light erupted from the ring of red light. Rojer fell back and the ring of red light vanished, he slumped to the ground against his front table gasping for breath while Antonius' body went limp. His chest was rising and falling weakly but his eyes were closed, above him hovered an orb of light not unlike the ones he'd seen the Shadow Master collect. Except this looked… misshapen.

"You- You did it," Scorpius breathed as Rojer got back up to his feet, rubbing at his crippled leg before starting to make movements over Antonius' body again.

The Alchemist didn't answer though, seeming focused once more. Scorpius wondered if he'd even heard. He daren't speak, deciding to just let Rojer work in case it was important. He close his eyes, holding his hand over him again and making random movements with that as well, Scorpius almost wished he felt up to transforming into a Thestral again to see what was going on. He felt more likely to throw up then to transform though, or just collapse.

"It is done," Rojer confirmed as he lowered his wand but still didn't spare Scorpius a glance, "The boy will survive. When he awakens, he can tell me who is this magic of and I can find this man and restore the other soul as well. Their souls will always have the damage but they will live, I am to diminish it as much as I can like I did for the descendant of my father."

"I'm sure he'd be proud," Scorpius assured him but Rojer gave a derisive snort.

"I am sure he would not."

"I'm sure he _would_," Scorpius reiterated, knowing Ashylos he was quite sure of that. He averted his eyes, his head feeling like it was gaining a pound a second as darkness crept in the edges of his vision, "And thank you, Rojer, I really can't thank you enough."

"It- Scorpius, what is?!" Rojer's tone shifted abruptly, Scorpius tried to look at him but his head swam too much. He did get a glimpse and saw the Alchemist was looking in his direction, "What have you done?!"

"I don't-" Scorpius started to say before darkness engulfed him and he dropped into blissful unconscious…

Scorpius came to slowly, blinking open his sleepy eyes and finding he was slumped against a table on the floor in the Alchemy classroom which was becoming increasingly brighter as dawn light was peeking in. Antonius still seemed to be asleep, he was still lying unmoving on the table from before. The magic was gone though, a glowing container was on Rojer's front table though which he would case became the new location for it. Rojer himself was crouched down by him, looking as grim as death.

"Tell me what happened. Now," Rojer told him, speaking quietly but in a deathly serious tone that left no room for arguing. So Scorpius filled him in on the recent events, struggling as he got to Calderon's death and choking on his words. To his surprise, Rojer slapped him, "Fool."

"Wh- What?" Scorpius stuttered out in shock as the Alchemist stood, turning his back on him. Scorpius leaped to his feet, anger replacing his grief and the edge of his mind noticed he was feeling better, "What did you do that for?! Why am I a fool?! Because my cousin died-"

"You do not even have know what you've done, do you?!" Rojer demanded, rounding on him and Scorpius just felt confused.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean what I've done?"

"You were so desperate for this Calderon to live that you _stopped his soul from moving on_," Rojer told him darkly as he glanced back to him and Scorpius blinked in confusion.

"But- But Calderon is dead."

"Yes, his body is dead."

"But you said I stopped-"

"Yes, you stopped his soul from going on."

"So what… I don't understand, is he a ghost?" Scorpius guessed in complete confusion.

"He is inside of _you_," Rojer said but Scorpius continued staring at him blankly, "You latched his soul onto your own, that is why you were feeling ill. You attached his soul to your own to spare him from death."

"So he- he's not dead?" Scorpius wondered hopefully, Rojer looked incredulous.

"He is not dead but he is not _alive_, you trapped his soul in your own body. Do you not understand how wrong this is for you? How bad this is? This could destroy the both of you- It almost had done already because you did of not even attach it correctly! It was going to have destroy you," Rojer told him seriously and Scorpius started to feel worried now.

"But I feel fine now," Scorpius pointed out, apart from his injuries anyway which he realized he hadn't noticed while feeling ill.

"Because I _saved_ you, I have sealed your mind and this soul of his separately. It will not last but for now it will keep you sane separate will keep you alive."

"So this is good, right?" Scorpius prompted hopefully, Rojer looked like he wanted to slap him again.

"This is bad! Very, extremely the most bad- This _is_ Dark Magic you have done! Dark Magic Alchemy, highly of the illegal kind! If I had not intervened with this it would have destroyed your mind, even now if we do nothing my seal will fade and the both of your souls will be destroyed as they burn each other out until there is nothing, souls are raw energy and should not have mixed," Rojer yelled at him angrily, "We have to remove the soul of his or that is what will happen, the both of you will be destroyed for all of the time."

"Wh- What about Calderon?" Scorpius stammered out, shock hitting him so hard that he had to take a seat. Rojer's anger waned, "What happens to his soul if we remove it?"

"I do not know, it does not end well. It cannot exist as a ghost from what you have done and it is not easy to make them go onto the void beyond."

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Scorpius admitted, tears springing to his eyes as the horror of what he apparently had done sunk in, "I don't even know how-"

"When it is unintentional most often it happens when there is so much desire for the other to live, so much power that you latch the soul onto that of your own. I should never have told you of the Alchemy of the soul, power and will can do bad things for the good reasons like what Pancratius did to my father," Rojer provided as he folded his arms, "Then you doom the both of them. I think I can remove the soul but you have to let it go first, you hold onto it and I cannot pull it away while fighting you."

"No, you can't do that!"

"If you do not then you will die!"

"And if I do then Calderon's soul is _doomed_-" Scorpius choked on a sob "-I can't- I can't do that."

"Only maybe doomed," Rojer pointed out but Scorpius didn't feel any better until something occurred to him.

"What- What if we get his body? Can we put the soul back in it so he can be alive again?"

"No, I do not think this is possible."

"It has to be possible!" Scorpius screamed, leaping desperately back to his feet, "I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes, his sister was dead. Physically, she was _dead_ but she came back. If she can come back then so can he!"

"No, Scorpius, you just have to let him go!"

"No!" Scorpius yelled determinedly, refusing to abandon Calderon's chance of survival, "I can save him, I _know_ I can if I just find his body-"

"Do you even have this body?"

"No, the Shadow Master took it," Scorpius admitted, "But that doesn't mean all hope is lost, it doesn't. I can get it back… How long will I have with his soul?"

"A couple of years, the whole soul is more stable than the part and the sealing helps."

"Well that's plenty of time," Scorpius insisted, feeling more hopeful for his chance of saving Calderon.

"No it is not! And you may have a couple of years but you will not be sane for all of them, as the seal weakens your mind will start to merge with his own then the souls will start to deteriorate as they burn each of the other out, you will be driven insane and then your souls will both have be destroyed as they break down."

"I'll just have to make sure I save him before then, won't I?" Scorpius decided in a mutter.

"I don't think you have understanding of what you have done," Rojer insisted, looking somewhere between irritated and bewildered.

"I-"

"Sc- Scor?" Antonius stammered out weakly and Scorpius went over to his side, feeling Rojer's piercing eyes staring him like knives as he moved.

"How are you feeling?" Scorpius asked him gently, the boy blinked open his eyes and glanced at him.

"Been better," Antonius muttered tiredly, "Did- Did it work?"

"It did, you will live now," Rojer confirmed quietly, apparently silently agreeing with Scorpius that their conversation could wait on Antonius, "And I can restore the other if you give me his name."

"Alaric Layton, the Minister for Magic," Antonius told him readily as he sat up shakily, he managed a smile for the Alchemist, "Thank you. And… And can you tell him that I'm sorry?"

"Fine," Rojer agreed testily, Antonius seeming slightly hurt by the reaction.

"I should get you back to your family now," Scorpius said.

"And the use of the Hospital Wing, for the injuries of the physical kind that you have."

"I will after I get him to his dad," Scorpius said and Rojer gestured to the door, it sprang open.

"Then go. We can talk at a time different to this," Rojer told him, picking the glowing carton of his table and leaving.

"He is kind of odd, isn't he?" Antonius muttered while Scorpius helped him off the table.

"Yes," Scorpius nodded mindlessly as he didn't feel like talking about it right now since he was pretty much the reason for Rojer's foul mood.

He led Antonius away, back through the very familiar halls he hadn't walked for several days and wondered what in the world he was going to tell people. Antonius looked nervous and Scorpius tried to smile, his friend would live after al. And so would Calderon when he found his body. It had worked for his sister, it had to work for him too. He knew it, he'd find a way. Of course he would, he had to.

As they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he noticed footsteps and poked his head in the ajar door. Professor Ashain was pacing anxiously, looking unsteady on his feet as he angrily muttered a string of curses against Aurors for not letting him leave. Antonius swallowed nervously.

"You have nothing to be nervous about," Scorpius assured him before knocking on the door, as it was ajar it merely swung open so father and son saw each other at the same time.

"An-Antonius…?" Professor Ashain wondered, looking as if he was afraid to believe what he was seeing was true.

"Dad…" Antonius breathed before rushing to his father who also ran to him, he threw himself crying into his father's arms and Professor Ashain clung to him tightly, tears trickling from his own eyes.

"Oh Antonius, you're okay. I'm so glad you're okay," Professor Ashain rambled, holding his son close and Scorpius was tearfully reminded of his own reunion with his family after his abduction, "And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I'll protect you better now, I promise. I love you, I love you so much."

"I love you too, Dad," Antonius whispered before being distracted by a bark, Scorpius saw Calderon's dog, Hope, bounding over to them and showering Antonius in excited slobber as she started licking at his face while he continued to hug his dad, "Oh Hope."

"Get out of here, you stupid dog," Professor Ashain grumbled.

"Antonius!" Cassia's voice cried and the little girl tore over to her family, her vulture soaring over her shoulder as she threw herself at them in a hug as well, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Antonius smiled tearfully at his sister, pulling her into the hug and Scorpius slipped away to leave the family to their reunion.


	19. Chapter 19: A New Age

_**Parts (71-72)**_

* * *

**VI  
**

**Chapter 19  
**

A New Age

* * *

**Part 1: **Mourning Comes

* * *

Rojer stalked very unhappily through the halls at the St Mungo's hospital with his crippled leg very much paining him, glaring at everyone who dared cross his line of sight. He didn't like being woken up and he didn't like hospitals, reminded him too much of the 'experiments' the Nazis had done to him and more recently of Rayan's ill health. He found both thoughts equally uncomfortable, sooner he found this stupid Alaric guy the better. It was too early in the day to be dealing with all this soul crap, he just wanted to go back to sleep.

He came to a halt outside of the private room that he'd been told the Minister was in, least he thought so. It was also too early to have to read English, it was a stupid languages. Languages were stupid in general, he didn't see why the world couldn't just pick a language and stick to it - like the birds had - instead of having to learn a million other ones, no one ever bothered to learn his language.

He didn't bother to knock before going in, he'd been told the men was unconscious so hadn't thought he'd get a reply anyway. He just wanted to get this over and done with. He was annoyed to find the Minister wasn't actually alone, there was a woman sitting by his bedside. Urgh, why did people always have to be in the way?

"Go away," Rojer told her irritably as he stalked around to the other side of the sleeping man, thanks to the Eye of the Thestral potion recognizing the wizard's magic was looking malformed and small. Something the woman lacked completely, she was a muggle.

"Who are you?" the woman questioned, seeming to share his mixture of fear and irritability.

"Who are you?" Rojer countered.

"My name is Claudia, I'm a friend of his," she provided and looked at him expectantly.

"Well good for you, I wish to save his soul so go away now. You are in way."

"Save his soul? What?" Claudia wondered in confusion.

"Just go," Rojer complained at her with a roll of his eyes, he couldn't be bothered to explain it, "Wait outside of the door, go to the toilet room, I do not care but just go away for the minute so I can help him."

"Well... Um... Ok- Okay, I'll just... wait outside then," Claudia stammered out, standing and Rojer gestured to the door without bothering to look at her because looking at people made him feel nervous.

"Buh-bye," Rojer offered as she left, hearing the door click shut behind her.

Rojer sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly before taking out the container he'd put Alaric's Magic in, he opened it and dumped it out into the air. Since souls existed mostly on another plane of existence, gravity didn't really effect it do it just hovered there usefully.

He took out his wand, tracing the alchemical symbol for soul to focus his magic and allow him access to it so he could levitate the soul segment towards the chunk still in Alaric's soul. He shifted the angle like it were a puzzle piece so it would slot back in as seamlessly as possible, Alaric's body arched and he gasped as the magic rejoined but Rojer ignored it as he focused on restoring the soul. Naturally, the soul tried to repair itself but lacked the ability to do so properly. He focused his magic, helping the soul restore itself to minimize the scarring as much as possible.

"There, your soul is has been restored," Rojer commented when he was done, pocketing his wand and turning to leave while Alaric just lay there breathing heavily, "Have a good life."

"Wait! What did- I feel- You- You saved my soul..? The magic..?" Alaric stammered out as he sat up, staring after him and still looking quite ill but Rojer figured it likely had a secondary cause since he was improved from being catatonic anyway.

"Yes, I already say this," Rojer stated irritably and went to leave again.

"Wait!" Alaric cried once more and Rojer rolled his eyes in annoyance again, couldn't he be allowed to leave in peace? He'd only restored his soul, "How did you even do that? Who are you? How can I thank me?"

"With Alchemy, I am a Alchemist and if you have want to thank me then leave me alone," Rojer answered in annoyance and Alaric seemed to consider this.

"That's all you want?" Alaric wondered and Rojer considered this for s moment before outright denying it as he thought of protecting Scorpius, he didn't seem to understand what he'd done. Aside from the immorality of it, and the danger to his own life, he could potentially go to jail for it if it was found out.

"Scorpius Malfoy and Antonius Ashain stopped this Shadow Master from destroying all of Londyn, unless they have camed back," Rojer stated and saw admittedly well veiled surprise flickering in the man's eyes, "Leave them alone. Do not have the Ministry people to question and hassle them, just leave them. The truth is theirs not yours, leave them alone. This is what I want."

"Okay, I'll make sure the Aurors don't question them," Alaric agreed cautiously, Rojer inclined his head in acknowledgement before heading for the door and opening it, "Thank you."

Rojer pretended he hadn't heard as he left, he never knew what you were supposed to say to that.

* * *

"Molly?" Tobias Latimer called as he knocked on the door to her room, eager to tell her the good news, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Molly confirmed and he went in, seeing her sitting cross-legged on her bed holding a crystal ball.

"Scorpius is okay," Latimer told her, deciding to just put her out of her misery, "He and Antonius turned up in Hogwarts, we don't know the details but he's alright. Varanian still thinks they were involved in the Shadow Master's attack, must've been gone by the time we got there though. Wyatt says he could've Thestral'd away, or he just realized the anti-apparation wards were broken faster than we did and apparated but the point is he's alright."

"Except he's _not_," Molly said with a scowl, shaking her head, "Scorpius is not okay."

"But he is back in Hogwarts, its-"

"Being back in Hogwarts doesn't make him okay," Molly insisted, looking saddened, "I guess at least it means he isn't the one who died which is good but… I still have a bad feeling, I still _know_ that something isn't right with."

"Maybe you're just being paranoid," Latimer offered as he went over to sit on the bed beside, "It's been a tough few days trying to find him, we're all stressed and haven't had much sleep. Maybe it's just Corin you're getting death vibes from or the fact that Scorpius has an injured shoulder even if it's not life threatening."

"I don't think so. I know crap sometimes, comes with being a Seer," Molly pointed and rubbed her eyes, she hadn't slept much since Scorpius had gone missing a few days ago. Well none of them had much really, she tended to look tired even before that though, "We don't know what happened yet, someone died and something is wrong with Scorpius."

"There was no bodies."

"There was no Scorpius either."

"Well sleep on it, maybe your mind is just shot because you're tired," Latimer offered trying to be comforting as he clapped her on the shoulder and stood to go let her rest, get a nap himself, "If there's anything wrong with him then I'm sure Marigold will catch it and fix him up, Scorpius will be fine."

"Maybe," Molly muttered and Latimer turned to leave, unsure of what else he could say and he did genuinely think this was the kind of thing she just needed to sleep on.

"Just get some sleep, Molly."

"Yeah because sleep is fun," Molly muttered unhappily, causing him to pause in leaving to look at his friend with concern.

"You aren't still getting those nightmares about Leebin, are you? He was saved… Sort of."

"Sort of…" Molly said and sighed once more as she turned to him, biting her lip with a look of somewhat guilt, "Okay Lat, I kind of… left out a bit of those nightmares."

"Well that's… okay?" Latimer offered, thrown off by her look of guilt, "You're not obligated to tell me everything about your dreams."

"I feel like I should tell you this though," Molly admitted and Latimer leaned back against the wall to listen, "The dreams weren't always about Leebin, they were about _me_ being tortured by my father's killer. I think I kept seeing him because we'll share a similar fate, that we'd both be tortured and in the end we'd both tell the Shadows in the end."

"Not all your dreams are Seer dreams, there's no reason to assume it'll happen. If anything its less likely to happen, seeing those horrible things happening to him it's natural for you to start thinking about yourself being in the same situation. I think."

"I don't think so," Molly said with a shake of her head, "I'm going to be captured and I'm going to betray us."

"Well maybe we can stop it-"

"_Maybe_ we can but I really doubt it. The reason I'm telling you is because when it does happen-"

"_If _it does happen," Latimer corrected, he was trying very hard to be optimistic.

"If it does happen then, it's important that you don't tell Scorpius," Molly told him seriously, "If you do he'll come after me but he can't do that, he has better things to do. He needs to stay in Hogwarts not waste time coming for me."

"Like what?" Latimer wondered in confusion, "A minute ago you thought there was something wrong with him."

"There _is _something wrong with him," Molly insisted anxiously, "But he needs to complete his last year of Hogwarts, as long as he's there the Blood Rune protection is still in place and the Shadow Master can't attack with the full force of their army and won't be able to take Hogwarts. If he leaves Hogwarts will fall."

"Well he'll have to leave at some point."

"I know but I only know what I'm seeing now and this is it. So when I get captured, don't let him know alright?"

"Alright," Latimer agreed with a heavy sigh, mostly just to satisfy her, "But we're not just going to let you get taken, the future can be changed if what you saw is even the future. And when the war ends without you being tortured, you owe me a burger."

"Well I hope you're right, I'd love to be wrong for once," Molly offered with a sad smile, "Night Lat."

* * *

Atticus Ashain apparated onto the once familiar street, heaving a sigh as he approached the once familiar door and knocked firmly. He heard sounds of movement from inside before the door opened a crack, held by a chain before it was unlatched and opened completely. He was now standing face to face with his ex-wife, Skye.

"Well thank you for not teleporting in or destroying my door," Skye commented neutrally and he resisted the urge to correct her that it was called apparating, he really didn't care anymore and just wanted to get this over with.

"I just came to tell you that Antonius is safe now," Atticus told her, seeing her eyes widen in surprise before her face softened in relief, "He's home and he's going to be alright, one of his kidnappers is dead and the other is in the wind. I thought you had the right to know."

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear that," Skye said gratefully, letting out a relieved breath before peering around him, looking slightly confused, "Where is he? And Cassia?"

"I didn't bring them," Atticus admitted, slightly surprised, "Why? Did you want to see them?"

"Yeah," Skye muttered and shifted uncomfortably, "I wanted… wanted to apologize."

"Well I didn't bring them," Atticus confirmed and decided pointing out neither child wanting to see her right now unnecessary.

"I've been thinking about things a lot lately and… and I was wrong, I shouldn't have tried to run from magic or from my family. I want to be part of their lives again, of your life, I want us to be a family again," Skye told him and leaned forward as if to kiss him, he recoiled and pushed her away gently which seemed to surprise her, "Am I moving too fast? Don't you want this?"

"No, Skye! No I don't," Atticus said firmly, somewhat surprised himself by how much he meant it, "I don't love you anymore, you broke my heart and you broke our children's hearts. I know I screwed up too, I know I've been at fault and for that I'm sorry but it doesn't change anything. You left me, you left our kids crying in the street and you sold Antonius out to psychos who wanted to destroy his soul. Do you even get that, Skye? Our son could've died, our _ten_ _year old_ son. I can't forgive you and I don't love you, I certainly don't want to be with you. It's up to the kids if they want to see you anymore or right now but I'm not leaving you alone with them after last time and after last time, I wouldn't get my hopes up because you've hurt them real bad and it'll take time for them to forgive you."

"But I-"

"I really don't care anymore," Atticus cut her off truthfully, stepping away as she looked upset, "Goodbye Skye."

On that note, he disapparated. He didn't want to see her anymore and if that made him a horrible person then he'd just have to be a horrible person, he just couldn't. Maybe a year ago he'd have jumped for joy and taken her back with open arms but he couldn't do that now, he was finally over her. He knew he was pretty far from perfect and knew he was hardly a great or even a good father _but_ he'd never sold his kids out and he'd never turned his back on them - nor would he ever - which was more than he could say for Skye. He didn't even remember why he loved her in the first place, because she'd looked at him twice? Well he didn't care anymore, love was stupid and only existed in stories, certainly not for Ashains. Family was real though, family was what mattered and he'd happily die alone for the sake of his children's wellbeing.

He sighed as he paced around the rubble of his childhood home, waiting on the second person he wanted to see that night. He was still anxious to get back to Hogwarts though, he was trying to overcome his paranoia over letting his children leave his sight but he still didn't like to be gone for long. He heard a crack and spun readily to see his brother.

"What's up? What's wrong?" Brutus questioned immediately, looking rather concerned.

"Antonius told me what you did," Atticus pointed out as he approached the Shadow, mustering as much of a smile as I could, "I just… I wanted to thank you for keeping your promise and bringing my son home safely."

"Of course I did, I promised didn't I?" Brutus stated and Atticus held out his hand.

"Still, thank you."

"Anytime," Brutus muttered as he took his hand, Atticus pulled him into a hug which seemed to clearly surprise Brutus before he hugged him back, "Family is still important to me, you know?"

"I know," Atticus confirmed as he pulled away, "Makes me wonder why you're even _doing_ this, look me in the eye and tell me you're actually glad you didn't end up taking London. Come on, just _stop_, Harry would pardon you in a second for all the information you have. You and your kids could have a fresh start and this war could end."

"I'm just glad the woman I _love _and my nephew got out of there alive, it doesn't change my beliefs or the side I'm on," Brutus told him firmly and shifted uncomfortably, "I'll see you, Atty."

"Bye," Atticus muttered as Brutus disapparated in the blink of an eye, he sighed sadly.

* * *

The next few days passed for Scorpius in a strange kind of blur, thankfully Marigold thought rest was superior to having to talk much about what happened and gave him something to help him sleep. He slept in a blissful void until the next day, upon awakening finding Martha sleeping in the bed beside him. He was glad she'd gotten back to Hogwarts alright, he hadn't exactly had a chance to make sure she made it back with Brutus. He didn't have a chance to ask her how it had gone with the Scepter as she was out cold, she'd been found beaten up and unconscious on the streets of London according to Marigold. She hadn't woken up yet.

His friends visited him of course, bearing terrible news. He didn't remember who had told him first but Corin was dead, so was Florian and while he wouldn't mourn the latter the deaths were apparently connected somehow. He was promised more details when he got out of the Hospital Wing just as he needed to fill them in as well, Marigold hovering around didn't make for the most ideal environment to talk. He kept expecting to be questioned about what had happened but he found himself left alone, he was surprised but glad as he'd much rather wallow in his thoughts. Corin's death came as a shock, he had thought his friends were all safe and sound. On top of Calderon's… _temporary_ state of death, it hurt even though he hadn't been as close to Corin as some of the others. Orous and Vern had to take their OWLs while mourning Corin, who would never get to take his. Scorpius felt pretty miserable about it all, not made any better by being stuck confined to a hospital bed.

"When can I leave?" Scorpius complained of Marigold after a few days, "I feel fine."

"I just want to keep an eye on your shoulder," Marigold insisted, gesturing to Scorpius' arm which was still in a sling. It was the one Calderon had zapped, his burns had been healed but not that, "I don't know what spell it was and it doesn't respond well to healing magic, the best case scenario is you walk away with some nasty scarring and the worst is that I can't repair the underlying muscle damage even slightly so you lose some mobility and function in that arm. If you're fine with that then you can go, if you do want to still be able to use your arm properly then stop complaining. I can't heal you if you're not here."

"Fine," Scorpius sighed heavily and Marigold nodded in satisfaction before retreating back to his office with his arms full of healing books.

"Am I back in Hogwarts?" Martha mumbled sleepily and Scorpius glanced at her in shock, seeing her eyes flickering open weakly for the first time since she'd been brought back.

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed and her cloudy gray eyes gravitated towards him, she attempted a weak smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. And kind of like someone lit my brain on fire."

"You've been unconscious for days."

"I have?" Martha wondered in surprise and he nodded, "Huh, well it doesn't feel like that."

"What even happened to you? Did you destroy the Scepter?"

"Jack/One attacked me but I still managed to toss the Scepter into the Veil, it's gone now."

"Good," Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief that it was indeed destroyed, at least it wasn't a complete waste. Martha had actually been doing something useful while he'd been failing miserably, she'd really came through for them, "Thank you, Martha, really you were great those few days and I don't think I could've done it without you."

"It was nothing," Martha gave a half shrug, "Least I could do considering I tried to kill you and all, besides this is what soldiers do."

"So why did-"

"You're awake!" Marigold exclaimed as he left his office, catching sight of Martha and whipping out his wand to fuss over her, "Do you remember what happened?"

"No, I have no idea…" Martha lied rather convincingly and Scorpius looked away, knowing they couldn't talk with Marigold there.

* * *

"Goodnight," Brutus whispered to the half-sleeping toddlers, kissing each on the forehead and tucking them each in turn.

"Is Mama gon say g'nigh?" Omega wondered sleepily and Brutus tensed slightly as he finished tucking in the younger of the twins.

"Maybe later, she's very busy."

"I like when Mama an' Dada se'g'night," Lazarus added as Brutus started tucking him in instead.

"Mama and Dada like when they say goodnight to you too," Brutus assured them, feeling somewhat bad for the times one or both of them were too busy and making a mental note to try talking to Sal again because spending all her time staring at her dead twin was unhealthy and bad in pretty much every way, "Sleep tight."

"Nigh night," the boys chorused with yawns as he left them, closing the door behind him.

"Bed soon for you too, okay?" Brutus commented to Vathan as he strode back into the living area where his ward was playing with some stuffed animals.

"Okay," Vathan nodded as Brutus made to walk by him, "Hey Brutus?"

"Yes?" Brutus wondered and paused to glance at the five year old orphan, already suspecting what he was going to say.

"Did they find my brother yet?"

"Not yet," Brutus admitted reluctantly and the boy sighed sadly, he put his hand gently on the child's shoulder, "Hey, they're still looking."

"They've been looking _forever_," Vathan pointed out unhappily, "You know I'm not stupid, Brutus, if Oathan died then just tell me he died. I hate to not know."

"He's not dead, I'd tell you if he was."

"But I heard Florian is dead."

"He is then after he died the Aurors took him and when we tried to get him back… He got away," Brutus offered and Vathan looked at him with an expression rather like his father, somewhere between puzzlement and askance, "We don't know what happened either, anyone there was either dead or asleep at the time so we can't ask them where Oathan went or what happened to him."

"If you don't know what happened then maybe he is dead?" Vathan wondered, his eyes watering.

"Maybe but its very unlikely," Brutus assured him and knelt to the boy's level, causing Vathan to shift his gaze back to him, "Vathan, when you look for someone you don't stop until you find them. Dead or alive, he's not dead until I see a body. What is with you thinking him being dead anyway?"

"I'm scared if we don't find him when we take England he'll be killed by accident," Vathan told him quietly, "I know the Inferis are an important part of our army and the consequest of the world but I don't like them and I don't want Oathan to end up like of thems."

"He won't. I promise," Brutus said seriously and Vathan nodded before hugging him, he hugged the boy back tightly.

"Thank Brutus," Vathan offered as he pulled away, giving him a faint smile, "You are really great to me."

"You're a good kid," Brutus clapped him on the shoulder, "And I expect you to be in bed by the time I get back, if you're still awake you may get a story."

"Okay," Vathan smiled which Brutus returned before summoning a Specter to transport him to Sal.

Of all the land they controlled, Sal was hanging out in a small cave with gritty brown walls. In the center on a pedestal of rock lay Tommy's body, encased in magical crystal that prevented decay. Brutus couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness every time he saw him, he had liked the kid. Sal was sitting on a ledge of rock in the corner just as she was all of the time except for the brief periods of time he convinced her to leave to do things like sleep, her knees hugged up to her chest and her bagged eyes staring at her twin brother's body.

"Sal?" Brutus prompted as he approached her, her eyes rolled to him briefly to acknowledge his presence but she didn't move. He debated how to go about it this time, "Your sons miss you, you know? It'd be great if you went to say goodnight to them."

"Tell them I'll be there soon," Sal brushed it off, "Just- Just after Tommy wakes up, I've told you before Brutus that I need to be here for when he wakes up."

"Sal, it's been weeks," Brutus said gently as he reached her, sitting down beside her, "I don't think he's going to wake up."

"He _will_," Sal insisted through gritted teeth, "I know he will, if I can do it so can he."

"He's dead."

"Yeah well so was I but I got better," Sal snapped, throwing him a dark look, "And I was _dead_. I know I was, I was in a field – and it looked a lot the one that I first saw the sheep in – except it was white, I even thought I saw Tommy for a second but then he was gone. I knew I wasn't alive anymore, there was a light and no shadows and I couldn't feel the Specters connected to me anymore. I tried to go towards the light I felt as if a hand was grabbing me, stopping me from going and it pulled me back. Then I was back outside London, I saw you cradling my corpse and I panicked for a second because I didn't want to be a ghost and I don't get why I would be because I'm not scared to die, I wasn't afraid of the light but then the tugging feeling pulled me back into my body and I was alive, I could breathe and feel the cold, that pain from my wounds. Pain _does_ actually let you know you're alive. I was straight up dead, Brutus, if I could come back from it then so can Tommy."

"Maybe he can't, maybe whatever reason you had for reviving applied only to you."

"Well it wasn't bloody divine intervention like Cel thinks, I'm not an angel."

"I didn't say it was but it could still be something that only applied to you not him, you did live a good chunk of your life without him," Brutus pointed out, "Your injuries were pretty much exactly the same as his minus fatal damage to his heart, I figure you had the same but it just healed and you came back but he didn't."

"I healed his heart!" Sal protested, "I don't know why he's not coming back."

"Because he's dead.

"Well I don't want him to be dead!" Sal cried and lightning flashed around the room, Brutus wasn't fazed though as he had lived around for a long time by this point. Instead he put his arm around her.

"I know," Brutus whispered gently and started rubbing soothing circles onto her back as she started crying and buried her head into his shoulder, it started raining and the room shook along with the lightning but he did his best to ignore that as he held her close.

"I don't even know _why_, Brutus," Sal sobbed while the room stopped shaking but the rain started changing colors, "He was always more powerful than me, why did I come back but not him? Why did he even do that?! For the freaking Scepter I don't even need that much anymore and could recreate from having my ancestor's notes?!"

"I don't know," Brutus offered, deciding it was unnecessary to point out it was probably to stop her from taking over the world, "But I do know you can't sit around staring at his body, you need to let him go and let him have a proper burial."

"NO! I'm not letting him go!" Sal yelled determinedly, causing the world to tremble again while Brutus panicked at having said the wrong thing and upset her again, "What if he tries to revive and his body is gone or _buried_ and-"

"Okay so don't bury him but don't watch him constantly!" Brutus protested desperately and the shaking ceased once more, "Destroying your health isn't helping him, you have a husband and two sons who love you and worry about you."

"I do?" Sal wondered and hugged him tighter, seemingly making an effort to quell her magic and after a minute the lightning and quake stopped but the color-changing rain remained, "Can't make that rain stop, sorry."

"I don't mind, I still love you," Brutus offered holding her closer and ignoring the fact he was getting soaked, her death had really terrified him and he was still just relieved she was alive. As he had told his brother, he was just glad she and Antonius were alright but unfortunately Tommy hadn't been so lucky, "Tommy wouldn't mind, he used to like the rain. And colors."

"He did," Sal sniffed and the rain intensified a bit but she did seem to be calming down, he stroked her damp hair lovingly and realized he missed the smell of her perfume, "Did you really just call yourself my husband just now? Usually you just say I don't understand marriage and declaring ourselves married is not how it works."

"Well it's not but I don't care about that," Brutus admitted, "Besides we run like ten countries now, you are the law on that stuff."

"I do need to run those countries," Sal mused as if she was only just remembering that now, "And take the rest of the world, the longer I wait the longer the rest of the world has to conspire against us, the US already want to launch missile strikes against us. Even if he wanted _me_ to die, I don't think Tommy would've wanted the rest if the innocent people in my lands to die from said attacks."

"Yeah," Brutus mumbled, still feeling rather indifferent at best to the conquering the rest of the world plan, "But just focus on yourself for now, you need to start eating and sleeping again - let's not push this immortality thing – and see our kids."

"I love our kids," Sal said as she pulled away cautiously, wiping the tears from our eyes and glancing at her brother's body, "If we can have another kid, we're naming him Tommy. Or Tommya I guess if we have a girl, I actually like that. If we have a girl who doesn't die- Do you think Lazarus and Omega inherited my immortality? Or just one? Neither?"

"I don't know and it's not something I want to test," Brutus stated seriously and Sal nodded in agreement, still not looking away from Tommy. He squeezed her hand gently, "Come on, if we hurry you can say goodnight to them. They'd like that."

"Okay," Sal muttered with a nod, "But- But have someone stay here? Someone trustworthy, you know, in case he wakes up I don't want him to be alone."

"I'll get it done, just come home now."

"Alright."

* * *

**Part 2: **No Place Like Home

* * *

Despite taking much longer then him to wake up, Martha was actually released sooner than Scorpius as she didn't have any more serious injuries like he did. He was finally released though albeit under strict orders about his arm which was kept in sling still, he also had to return frequently for Marigold to check on it. As it was his wand arm, Scorpius was limited in what he could do in his classes which were winding down for the year anyway and Care of Magical Creatures was cancelled completely as Professor Hagrid was in no state to teach in his grief over his son. Corin's body had been taken to France though so his mother could bury him, Scorpius thought he'd like that. He always gone on about how beautiful Beauxbatons was and all, he'd only preferred Hogwarts because it was where his friends were.

As Orous and Vern were taking their OWLs that week, Scorpius waited until the weekend before gathering them up to fill each other in the happenings to try not mess them up anymore than they already were taking the tests so soon after Corin's death. So he gathered up Albus, Abby, Rose, Michael, Maurice, Orous, Vern, Antonius – along with his dog, Hope - and Cassia to the Room That Doesn't Exist, he also invited Martha to join them as she had her side of the story to tell as well and she was part of this. Despite having told his friends this beforehand, there were some glares directed her way from the others although no one said anything.

He filled them in on what had happened on his end first, leaving out only about Calderon's soul being latched to his and that entire conversation with Rojer after Antonius passed out because he didn't feel like sharing that or dealing with their reactions, he also didn't go into detail about saving Leebin because that seemed too personal and unnecessary. Martha told them about her conflict with Jack, Antonius hesitantly talked about his abduction – much to Cassia's anger upon hearing of Skye's involvement – seeming rather ashamed about it all and finally the others - least those who'd been there – recounted events with Florian leading to Corin's death and the aftermath where Potter planned the evacuation.

"Wait, what about Oathan then?" Martha asked in confusion when they were done, clearly having expected him to be mentioned post-arrest, "Didn't your Gray take him?"

"What would we want with that psychotic brat?" Maurice spat bitterly.

"You did murder his father right in front of him," Orous pointed out, "He tried to kill you in revenge not because he was a crazed psychopath. Least as far as I could tell."

"What, are you on his side now? He murdered our friend!"

"I never said I was on his side, just that he's not _as_ bad as you make him out to be," Orous said defensively but tiredly, "Neither of you should've tried for revenge."

"Then what happened to him?" Martha wondered, looking even more confused.

"I guess the Ministry still has him?" Scorpius offered uncertainly, not sure what they'd do with a four year old killer.

"They lost him according to the papers, the Aurors transporting him during the evacuation were redirected and ambushed. They found them unconscious with two dead Soul Eaters… one was my half-sister, Viola. There was no sign of Oathan," Martha explained and his friends' faces seemed to indicate they knew this already, "It was an isolated place and Oathan is so young, he couldn't go far alone so they would've found him if he was on foot or tracked where he went with the Floo Network if he used that but they didn't. The Ministry don't have him, the Soul Eaters don't as they wouldn't have left the bodies, it happened while Jack/One was occupied so I thought Gray must've, if they don't then… what happened to him?"

"Who knows? Who cares?" Maurice complained disinterestedly and rubbed at the black bags beneath his eyes.

"But he's your family?"

"Having the same deadbeat mother makes him our _blood_ but that doesn't make him our _family_," Orous stated rather surprisingly and very bitterly, "Family doesn't start or end with blood. I don't wish him ill but I don't want anything to do with him."

"He did murder Corin," Rose added testily, "Crazed psycho Shadow people like you may be fine excusing the killing of our friends – if you even know what they are – but _normal _people aren't."

"Each to their own," Martha said quietly and neutrally with a shrug, apparently deciding to just stay quiet.

"And Calderon's dead too," Abby mused, looking both sad and concerned, "How are we supposed to beat someone who can't die? Especially if someone as powerful as poor Calderon couldn't do it."

"He- _She_ must've made a Horcrux," Vern corrected himself, "We know they can be made accidentally, we can find it and destroy it."

"It's not a Horcrux," Martha said with a shake of her head and Rose looked ready to object before seeing Maurice incline his head in reluctant agreement with her, "They don't work like that, they don't revive that person's body."

"Then what did cause it?"

"I don't know."

"Well we don't have to kill her if she can't die," Cassia decided as if the answer was obvious, "We can just lock her up in a super security prison forever instead, they even have a potion that stops your magic now."

"Yeah, we can still win," Vern confirmed, sounding more optimistic.

"Yeah, we just need to figure out how to take down a slightly less than all-powerful immortal psychopath _after_ we get through their massive army of course," Albus pointed out cheerfully.

"Don't be so pessimistic," Abby complained, giving him a scowl from the opposite side of the room.

"You make it sound so easy!" Vern joked.

"I'm sorry," Antonius apologized guiltily, hanging his head and looking like he was fighting off tears, "I'm really sorry. I really thought the plan could work, I didn't think Calderon would- would die and I- I never meant for any of you to get hurt, I don't blame you if you hate-"

"It's okay," Albus offered and clapped the younger boy on the shoulder while giving him a faint kind smile, "I mean yeah, you done did dumb to believe that psycho _but_ we forgive you because we're friends. Don't do it again though or we will kill you, we're allowed since you're of Hogwarts age now and all. It's not like you tried to murder us."

"His birthday isn't until July," Cassia pointed out while Martha averted her eyes sadly.

"_Practically_ of Hogwarts age and all," Albus corrected, keeping his arm around the boy's shoulders comfortingly as Antonius wiped his eyes and smiled at him weakly.

"Well if that's all…" Maurice muttered before letting go of his necklace and heading for the exit, others started trickling out too, Scorpius couldn't help but notice the absence of a very tall part-giant amongst them.

* * *

"And this, Cres, is the house that Mummy grew up in," Dom commented to her infant son bundled up in her arms, pointing out Shell Cottage to him even though he was too young to understand and sadly thinking of better days in the cottage. Cres gurgled in reply and wrapped his tiny little hands around her finger, she smiled lovingly at him and kissed his head gently, "You're so perfect, I don't know how Grandpa Bill can _not_ love you. He doesn't even have to put up with you when you're being a cranky puss and crying all night."

Cres gurgled once more, looking up at her innocently with those chestnut eyes identical to his dad and pretty much every other Ashain she'd met. She sighed, cuddling him close as she approached the door of her childhood home. In truth she wasn't a hundred percent sure why she was bothering and she'd promised herself this was the last time she was going to try to repair the relationship with her dad because she couldn't force this and really she tired of trying. She knocked on the door and waited, hearing sounds from inside before it opened revealing her father. His red hair was graying now, the scars from Greyback only making him look older and tireder, he didn't look like he'd shaved in a while – or even left the house, he was just wearing a bathrobe – and his eyes were red as if he'd been crying.

"What do you want?" her dad croaked, not screaming at her for once but not looking happy either as his drifted to Cres and took on a dark glint.

"Just to talk," Dom told him quietly, glad that he didn't slam the door in her face immediately.

"Did you leave _him_?" her dad asked, the word dripping in disgust.

"No."

"Well my wife is dead, my dad is dead, _three_ of my brothers are dead and my son… my little boy is dead," he said quietly, a silent tear sliding down from the corner of his eye as his voice cracked slightly, "I don't feel like talking."

"Then just listen," Dom insisted and caught his eye, trying to think of how best to say what she wanted to say, "This is my son, Cres, he's only two and a half months old so he can't do that much yet but he smiled for the first time the other day and he loves when you dangle things over him, as you'll remember I'm a terrible singer but he likes that lullaby Mum used to sing us when we were little if Aurelius sings it. Still have no idea what it means since its French but its soothing, he doesn't speak any language so it doesn't matter to Cres anyway"

"So?"

"So you have a really great grandson and I'd love for you to know him, for him to know you. People are dying, people we love. Don't you think now is the time to stick together not drive each other apart?" Dom said quietly and his expression remained blank but his eyes drifted to the baby, "One of us could realistically very well die and I don't want the last time we spoke to have been in anger, I love you Dad and it would mean the world to me if you could let us back into your life, even a little."

"I do love you, Dom," he said finally and equally quietly as his eyes shifted back to her, "But I can't accept this, I can't accept _him_. I don't want anything to do with it."

"Your loss," Dom stated, making an effort to keep her voice firm.

She turned around and walked away, hoping childishly that he'd call after her and change her mind but he didn't. Of course he didn't. She hugged her son tighter and disapparated, returning back to the cottage she lived in with Aurelius. She was momentarily distracted from the depressing relationship with her father in surprise at Aurelius being outside, wand out and eyes darting around.

"What's up?" Dom wondered in confusion as she approached, he scowled but lowered his wand.

"I saw a house-elf leaving Cres' room," Aurelius admitted, still looking around.

"A house-elf?" Dom repeated dubiously, "Why would a _house-elf_ be in Cres' room? Shadows don't use them."

"I know but I swear I saw one, looked just like one of the ones that served my father."

"Are you _sure_?" Dom questioned as she reached him, he fidgeted nervously, "Because we're pretty sure they died in the explosion, none ever showed up."

"I _thought_ I was sure," Aurelius stated, rubbing his eyes briefly, "But I lost sight of it when I followed it outside, it ignored me when I called after it but then they always did ignore me anyway."

"Well I don't see any and I don't think it's likely there was one," Dom admitted and handed Cres over to him, "I'll do a quick sweep of the house anyway and reinforce the protective enchantments if it'll make you better, though?"

"Okay," Aurelius agreed and cuddled their son while she went back inside.

Dom did a sweep of the house, magically using revealing charms – _including _ones that detected house-elves – as well as looking around but saw no sign of them. Cres' room was perfectly in order too, no dark enchantments or things left behind or anything. She was mindful of the fact Aurelius been mixing up a supply of healing potions all day as well as being up with Cres his half the night, they had a system of each being on baby duty half the night to try ensure they both got _some_ pockets of rest. Some still wasn't the best sometimes though. Regardless she didn't want to take each any chances or blow off Aurelius' concerns, even if she thought it more likely he was half-asleep and seeing things in the evening light.

"Anything?" Aurelius asked anxiously after a minute when he wondered back into the house with Cres who was looking sleepy, she shook her head, "Probably just nothing then."

"Probably," Dom confirmed but went outside to reinforce the protective enchantments anyway, returning inside where Aurelius was putting Cres down for sleep.

"Anything?"

"Still nothing," Dom reaffirmed, "And it'll stay that way, nothing's getting past those enchantments I just boosted."

"Okay," Aurelius breathed a sigh of relief and she put a comforting hand on his arm, his line of thought apparently shifting as he calmed down, "How'd it go?"

"How'd you think?" Dom tried to scoff but ended up choking on a sob instead, Aurelius' expression softened in sympathy and he put his arms around her gently. She clung to him tightly back, taking comfort in his presence as she cried into his shoulder, "It shouldn't be this hard."

* * *

The final few weeks passed surprisingly uneventfully after all that, classes seemed dull – only having one arm might've contributed to that, although he was glad to see Antonius in Defense Against the Dark Arts - and muted, his friends were generally quieter than usual – Maurice seeming the worst off as he barely contributed to conversations and didn't always bother to listen to them at all – in their grief and even the Shadows did nothing newsworthy. Muggle countries wanted to launch an offensive, the US was desperate to launch missile strike at them apparently but the magical community was against it as they still viewed it as a magical matter however the Shadows themselves did nothing. No further attacks, no new invasions. Silence. The atmosphere in the school remained too tense for people to truly relax and enjoy the sunshine as they rolled into the final week of the school year, the shadows loomed overhead.

"And this is it, you are done for the Alchemy of the year," Rojer told them as he concluded the final class of the year, seeming in better spirits than usual and actually smiling as he gestured to the door that opened on command, "Buh-bye."

"Bye Rojer, have a great summer!" Knight offered cheerfully, others adding their well wishes as they headed off.

"Hey Scorpius, can I have talk to you for a second?" Rojer asked as Scorpius tried to slip away with the admittedly small crowd, he'd been avoiding him after the Calderon conversation but realistically he had expected this conversation for a while.

"Okay," Scorpius sighed and waited behind, Rojer losing his smile and closing the door after the others left, "I know what this is about and I haven't changed my mind, I'm not going to let Calderon die, I'm going to lose anyone else."

"He's already _dead_."

"Not as long as I have his soul, if his sister can come back then so can he," Scorpius insisted - he thought he had a good chance, if the Shadow Master expected her twin to revive she'd be keeping his body safe - stubbornly, expecting more a fight from Rojer but the Alchemist merely shrugged.

"Fine. I will not have waste of my words to try to convince you because I cannot force you but this is the wrong and you still have the time for now so when you have realize that, I will still try to save you of this," Rojer told him seriously as he opened the door once more, "If not then the both of your souls shall be destroy themselves. This is your choice."

"Well… Thank you," Scorpius offered in grateful surprise, turning to leave before thinking of something just after he left the doorway and glanced back, "Hey Rojer, you don't have any idea what caused the Shadow Master to revive like that do you?"

"Why do you have think I know of everything? I am not the same as my father, this is not the fight of mine," Rojer complained testily and slammed the door between them, "Buh-Bye, Skorpios. I'll have see you next year maybe."

"Bye Rojer, thanks for everything."

* * *

"Knock knock?" James offered uncertainly as he rapped on Stephan's oddly already open door, Carver's brother was the only real friend he had right now.

He'd been having a hard time since Carver's death, he hadn't even had Leebin to cheer him up because the worthless idiot had gone insane. He knew Leebin was obviously a weak coward but still, to go insane? What kind of pathetic excuse for a counsellor went insane? He'd at least had things to distract him when he was doing work for the Shadows but for some unknown reason everything seemed to have slowly ground to a halt recently, all the focus was on rebuilding and order and all boring crap like that not the conquering and the fun stuff. Left to his own thoughts, he found himself rather lonely. He'd wanted to talk to Stephan about it but was wondering if the man was even here now the door was open, however his worries were quickly sated as Stephan walked in from another room.

"Ah James, what can I do for you?" Stephan wondered pleasantly enough as he deposited the bag he'd had slung over his shoulder onto the couch, he zipped it up with a scowl but James still noted it was filled with clothes, "Which idiot slave forgot to zip the freaking bag? It's packing 101."

"You going somewhere?" James wondered in confusion.

"England. Got to pick up my little sister, Hogwarts year is ending."

"Oh right, the one who's probably a traitor that you need to kill if she is?" James inquired, recalling vaguely him mentioning it before and Stephan nodded in confirmation. He sighed, "You're lucky, I can't even see my family."

"Why not?" Stephan questioned, sounding genuinely puzzled.

"Err because I'm in a different country because I'm a wanted criminal and all since I'm a Shadow now, they'd never accept me," James explained unhappily, "I don't see why they're so stubborn about this, is it not obvious our world is better?"

"You know what James? Maybe you _should_ see them," Stephan offered, James could only blink in surprise.

"I… should?"

"Absolutely," Stephan announced with a nod of certainty as he folded his arms, "You've been going on lately about them, I think you should see them and try to convince them how our way is clearly the best way. They're not stupid, if they love you then they'll turn to our side and if not you'll know they hate you and are too far gone to save, they're not even _worth_ saving then. After all if they don't love you then clearly they're _bad_ to not love their own family despite a differing opinion, you're strong enough to fight your way out if you have to so why not? Wouldn't you rather know for sure where you stand?"

"I… I suppose so," James admitted, he hadn't thought it was even possible to be allowed return to England to see them and he was still wanted and all, "But I'm not sure."

"Well, decide by tonight because I'm leaving then but in the meantime I have a slave to kill for their failure."

* * *

Hufflepuff won the House Cup that year as the Headmaster Weedy Larry announced after a rather dull speech about Hogwarts or something, Scorpius found himself zoning out in boredom. He did notice there was no mention of Corin though so they had their own private toast to their friend, it still seemed weird for him to not be there. After an admittedly good End of Year Feast – although Hogwarts food was pretty much always good – they trudged back up to the dormitories for the final time that year, Michael helping him - due to his arm still in a sling – and Albus pack up their trunks for tomorrow.

"You know, Michael, since we won't be in Hogwarts over the summer I won't have to worry about Marigold," Scorpius pointed out after the other two roommates were asleep, almost excited at the prospect of being able to help his friend finally, "I could just come over to you as a Thestral on the full moon to be there with you."

"Look, this Remus Lupin bloke sounds like a decent guy but I'm _not_ him," Michael insisted testily, "Hanging around me with the full moon isn't going to make any better. Besides, John has enchantments all around his house and how do you expect to get there with your arm out of commission?"

"Marigold's just being paranoid," Scorpius brushed it off, scowling at his arm, "It feels fine, one night of use is not going to-"

"Don't you _dare_. As an aspiring Healer, I refuse to let you ignore your health like that."

"So weird to think that after we only have one year left before we're looking for jobs and doing careers and grown up stuff like that," Albus commented thoughtfully, leaning back lazily onto his bed, "You know, if the Shadows don't kill us all first. And can I just say how glad I am that Pentakel won't be here next year? Even though I still don't know what to do about Abby not liking me back."

"I told you not to tell her how you felt. And how many times do I have to tell you to pair your socks? It would make packing so much faster."

"Yes, _Mother_. And can I just say, you seem awfully cynical today," Albus teased to which Michael tossed a bundle of socks at him that hit him in the face, "Hey!"

"Talk to your mother like that again and I'm going to ground you into the middle of next week," Michael chided and smiled faintly as Albus laughed, Scorpius was oddly reminded of First Year when they had a pillow fight and just had fun like normal kids. Those moments seemed to be dying out.

"What about when I'm allowed to take my sling off?" Scorpius pressed as Albus had to start pairing his socks, Michael rolled his eyes.

"I'll think about it you stop hassling me. Now get to bed, you're done."

Scorpius did as bid, his friends following suit not long after. The next morning went by quickly, they had breakfast and then – after saying goodbye to the Ashains first, he was making more of an effort to keep up with Antonius and Cassia – it was off to the carriages and the train ride back home with the compartment feeling somewhat lonely with just him, Albus, Rose, Orous and Lily as he'd opted to bring his girlfriend. The others were in the prefect compartment and Corin of course, was dead. There seemed to be less every year, he looked forward to next year when Antonius would be joining them and in fact they started taking bets on what house he – and by extension moved on to other younger kids they knew like Cassia, Sol or Michael's sister would get – would get to pass the time and keep their mind off the absent seat.

All too soon the Hogwarts Express was pulling up into the station and everyone started trickling away, he started saying farewell to his friends. Cade waved over Orous and Maurice first, Vern spotted Mrs Potter so Scorpius said goodbye to him and Albus, as a rarity Rose's mother was picking her kids up herself so Scorpius also waved her off, when Abby was done snogging Sequoia goodbye – which he was kind of glad Albus had left to miss – she bade him goodbye and went off with her younger brother to their mother leaving just him and Michael until his friend gave a groan of dislike upon spotting John.

"You know, maybe he's not so bad…?" Scorpius offered uncertainly, he had saved his family and all but only got a murderous glare from Michael so instead he gave his friend a one-armed hug, "Take care yourself, okay? No drinking and think about I said."

"Think about what _I_ said about John's protective enchantments," Michael pointed out as he pulled away before deciding to apparently part on better terms as he patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "Try have a good summer, hope your arm's alright."

"Bye," Scorpius said as Michael headed over to John, leaving him to wait alone until he spotted Martha standing a few feet away also waiting. He went over to her, "Hey."

"Oh hey," Martha greeted him in surprise and hastily stood up straighter, brushing her hand through her hair quickly as if to make it look nicer, "How's the arm?"

"Not too bad, Marigold's paranoid," Scorpius answered with a shrug, "How's your head?"

"Better. Thankfully, I'll need all the strength I can get."

"Why?" Scorpius wondered curiously and Martha glanced around as if to make sure they were alone enough to tell him.

"Because the Shadows think I'm a traitor remember? My eldest brother is picking me up and he's going to test me," Martha explained quickly, "He'll use Legilimency to try prove that, if I can't use Occlumency well enough to hide my memories of betrayal from him then he'll kill me."

"That seems… pretty… dark," Scorpius stumbled out with a scowl, looking around even though he had no idea what said brother looked like, "Is he any good at Legilimency?"

"Yep."

"Martha, I know this is kind of last minute but if you want I could try get you to Gray," Scorpius offered, dropping his voice to a whisper, "They could protect you so you wouldn't have to… do that."

"If I run they'll _know_ I'm a traitor," Martha pointed out, looking slightly conflicted for a moment before shaking her head, "No, I'm afraid to face this."

"But you could _die_."

"So could a lot of people, if I run I'll be limited by the Trace and not much use but if I go I have a chance of still being useful. I'd rather take the chance," Martha told him seriously, "I'm not afraid to die for what I believe in, I knew the risks."

"You're twelve, it's not your responsibility to stop the war," Scorpius insisted, feeling rather bad for her now.

"That didn't stop you, did it?" Martha countered with a weak smile, "Look, Scorpius, I've been raised to be a soldier, it's what I am as much as I'd like to be more than that. It's my fate to fight in this war and I have to be as useful as possible, that's what soldiers do. The only choice I have is what side to fight for, I've made my decision so if I die, I die. My life was always expendable."

"Your life is not expendable."

"Please," Martha scoffed, looking almost amused, "When I die I'll get no funeral, I'll be buried forgotten in a shallow unmarked mass government grave whether it's the Soul Eaters one like my dad or the Ministry's one like my brother, uncle and sister, assuming I'm not turned into an Inferi anyway."

"You don't have to-"

"Too late, there he is," Martha interrupted, jerking her head and Scorpius turned to see a gangly young man looking around the platform. He had a rather square jaw, dark grubby hair and coal-colored eyes that had an unmistakably dark glint to them but he nonetheless held himself with an air of quiet confidence, power.

"He's just hanging out here with Aurors around?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, thinking he'd had more time.

"Why not?" Martha shrugged, "He's not a known Shadow, they don't know who he is."

"Damn."

"Goodbye Scorpius," Martha said quietly, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if wanting to say something more before ultimately just giving him a smile, "I hope this isn't the last time we meet but if it is… I- I'm glad that I met you."

"Good luck," Scorpius offered, not sure what to say or do nor quite managing to return the smile as she headed off towards her brother who surprisingly hugged her.

"Scorpius!" a voice called.

He jolted in surprise, spinning and catching sight of his parents. He threw them a wave of acknowledgement before looking back for Martha, she and her brother – Stephan, he thought it was – had already vanished into the crowd. Well that solved that, he supposed. He was distracted once more by something grabbing his leg, he looked down to see his younger brother happily beaming up at him. He crouched down and pulled the toddler into a tight one-armed hug, grateful his family at least were basically okay.

* * *

James broke the enchantments protecting his former home rather easily thanks to his Soul Eater training, nervously entering and going about the place. It felt weird to be back, it felt like forever since he'd been there. He walked around aimlessly, finding it looking surprisingly unchanged and even his room was intact not handed off to the Dursley brat. It made him feel pleasantly hopeful, if they hadn't handed off his room then maybe they _did_ care about him, maybe they still had a chance after all. He returned to the kitchen, knowing after returning from Hogwarts it tended to be the first port of call. Then he just had to wait, idly fingering Leebin's wedding ring that he still wore. He considered it a trophy of sorts, a memento.

He looked up as he heard the front door opening, followed by the familiar voices of his family – least his mum and siblings - plus Vern. He scowled, they had the nerve to sound happy, laughing about something. How could they be _happy_ while he was gone? Were they happy _because_ he was gone? Didn't they care about him at all?! He felt rage boiling up from inside him even before the four of them walked into the kitchen with him, they all froze as the joy left their faces in an instant. His mum looked like she wanted to cry, Vern's expression twisted darkly while his siblings didn't seem to know how to feel.

"What?" James spat at them angrily, "Not pleased to see your beloved lost family member?"

"You're a Shadow," Vern said darkly and raised his wand at him, recovering faster than the Potters apparently, "Put down your wand, we're going to contact the Ministry and you're going to be arrested."

"Vern!" his mum hissed and grabbed the teen's arm, pulling it down, "We're going to hear him out first. Why _are_ you here, James?"

"Am I not welcome in my own home anymore?" James demanded.

"You've done some bad things."

"What? I've never done anything bad!" James insisted angrily, his family looked at him like he'd gone mad, "It's not my fault Louis died, he picked the wrong side and chose to get in the way when I was avenging my friend. It's not my fault Leebin was so weak he went mad, he deserved to suffer, everyone I've hurt deserved what they got. And the Soul Eaters aren't bad, I used to think they were too but they're not. It's better in their world, I want you to see that."

"You're sick, James! The Shadows _are_ evil! Those people _didn't_ deserve it! Those things _are_ your fault!"

"Shut up, Vern!" James snapped and slashed his wand with a non-verbal Acutus Curse

It caught his cousin across the throat, Vern fell back spluttering and choking out blood as it spilled from his neck. Albus shrieked and caught Vern as he fell, cradling the dying teen as he knelt. Lily's face drained of all color as she put her hands over her mouth, tears did actually spill from his mother's eyes as she took out her wand – although didn't point it at him - and repositioned herself in front of the teenagers as if ready to protect them.

"Maybe now he's silenced, you'll listen to what I have to say," James stated stubbornly, feeling no remorse as Vern clearly had it coming.

"Hold on, Vern, hold on!" Albus sobbed in terror, bundling Vern's shirt up to try press it against the wound on his neck to try stem the bleeding, "Hold on, you hear me? Hold on, hold on, don't die, _don't _die."

"What have you done, James?" Lily asked of him tearfully.

"Gotten rid of the blight on our family," James told her the blatantly obvious, "He's a _Dursley_, he was never welcome in our family after how _his_ scumbag family treated Dad, he was never really part of our family. Now come on, Lily, can't you see the world is better if we don't allow terrible people to taint it? The Soul Eaters will bring about a better world."

"Don't listen to him, Vern, don't you listen. You're family now, we love you," Albus continued crying over Vern as the boy went limp and the light left his emerald eyes as they met his cousin's, "Vern! No, Vern! NO!"

"Get out, James, get out," his mum said while Lily slowly shook her head, her tone sorrowful but undeniably firm.

"You're turning on your _own_ son?" James wondered feeling incredibly hurt before the roaring rage tried to drown it out, she raised her wand to him.

She raised her wand to her _own_ child. He was right all along, his family didn't love him. She was bad, she was a terrible mother. He slashed his wand at her in rage with another Acuta, she countered with her own slash and the sparks flew as their spells collided. She cast a pitiful Disarming Charm at him, he deflected it with a quick Shield Charm and in a fluid motion jabbed his wand at the ceiling to break it.

"FINE!" James screamed in anger as the roof above the others started collapse, Lily and his mum hastily aimed their wands up to try stabilize it. He didn't care, he was already casting flames all around with Fiendfyre so they couldn't put it out, "I _TRIED_ TO HELP YOU PEOPLE! I _TRIED_ TO BE A GOOD SON! BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT MY HELP THEN YOU CAN ALL STAY HERE! YOU CAN ALL DIE! DIE IN THE FIRE LIKE THE TRAITORS YOU ARE! AND NOT TRAITORS TO THEM, YOU BETRAYED _ME!_"

James turned away as the tears fell from his eyes, he cast an anti-apparation spell and continued filling his childhood home with flames. He heard them screaming for his help behind him but it was too late, it was too late _now_. Of course they'd want his help when it was this or death, he walked away and didn't look back even when he reached the street. He disapparated, still feeling the heat from the flames on his back.

* * *

Andreas Webb rushed through the halls of the Training Tower, hoping he wasn't too late. He skidded to a halt outside the door, barging in without a second thought. It was hardly the best plan in the world but there wasn't another way he could get into the room, he couldn't do anything if he wasn't there. Martha was sitting on a chair, Stephan stood facing her with his wand aimed at her.

"No! Don't kill her!" Andreas gasped in panic, whipping his wand out but Stephan was faster – possibly because his wand was already drawn – and swiped it through the air. Andreas was thrown violently into a nearby bookshelf, crashing painfully through a table that broke from the force he was flung into and books toppled down onto him that had been displaced when he was knocked into them.

"Calm down, both of you!" Stephan complained and Andreas groaned as he raised his head, seeing Stephan pushing Martha back onto the chair as if she'd gone to run to him. Their brother raised his hand and Andreas' wand – lying amongst the fallen books – flew to his hand, "I haven't judged her mind yet, Andreas, I wasn't trying to kill her and if I have to then you should hardly defend a traitor."

"Oh right," Andreas mumbled as he pulled himself into a sitting position, still sore from being thrown.

While he had admittedly thought Stephan was simply killing her and foolishly jumped the wand, his brother didn't always stick to his word and regardless he'd wanted to get her away. All things considered, he was pretty sure she _was _a traitor so would killed. And he didn't want to lose anyone else, dammit.

"Are you alright?" Martha asked of him worriedly and Andreas nodded even though he felt rather batter now.

"Okay, judging time," Stephan announced, seeing them calmer and jabbed his wand at Martha who immediately gasped in pain.

Andreas stupidly had his wand taken from him, he had the books scattered around him now however. When Stephan declared her guilty, he could throw some at him to distract his brother and with any luck Martha wouldn't be so mentally wiped from the inquisition to disarm him. If she was, hopefully the distraction would be enough to summon his wand back and Imperise her to help or run. If not, they were screwed because there was no way he'd be able to defeat Stephan alone, even holding him off for a little while was useless if Martha was incapable of fleeing. He didn't _think _Stephan would kill him for treachery just for helping his sister but he'd certainly kill Martha for her serious betrayal.

He supposed he could try distracting Stephan but he'd rather the Legilimency be over with, didn't want to accidentally screw up their minds somehow by severing it unexpectedly. Stephan didn't do Legilimency gently, his style was to be as violently intrusive as possible so the pain would throw them off. He watched uncomfortably, seeing his half-sister's face twisting in pain as she gripped the arms of the chair. He gripped two books in readiness as discretely as possible, just waiting for it to be over. Finally Stephan stepped back, blinking in shock and dropping his wand while Martha slumped into her seat gasping for breath.

"You're innocent," Stephan said in surprise, clearly not having expected this outcome and in truth, neither had Andreas.

He was sure she and Carver – not Viola, he was quite sure her incompetence was the only reason her selfish psychopathy went unnoticed – were in on Pyrrhus' insane scheme to turn against the Soul Eaters. _Unless_ Martha had just tricked Stephan into believing her innocent, he let go of the books and glanced at his sister as she raised her head back to look at Stephan. He knew she was more talented than she let on but… No, could she _really_ best Stephan?

"I told you," Martha muttered quietly while Stephan finally seemed to recover, holding himself up straighter again.

"Well I'm glad," Stephan decided, his eyes flicking between the two of them before a smile slipped onto his face, "But I think both of you have suffered from clearly influence outside of the Soul Eaters, we need to get you back on track. It's high time both of you take the Test."

_Great_, Andreas thought to himself bitterly as Martha's eyes widened in horror, _now we're both going to die._

* * *

Cade Knox scrubbed at the dishes solemnly, it was supposed to be Orous' turn but he didn't feel like forcing his son to do chores after everything he'd been through lately. The loss of his closest friend had hit the boy hard, he'd almost lost another friend _and_ his girlfriend as well but their family 'house-elf' called Kreacher had 'apparated' them out before they burned by 'Fiendfyre' which was good. He was also quite proud of being able to actually understand that sentence, he wouldn't always have. Still, Vern had died beforehand and the twins were devastated especially so soon after losing their other friend. War was not a good situation to be in.

"Cade honey, get in here!" Tabitha called from the other room, she was his girlfriend and they had recently celebrated their one year anniversary.

He was extremely conflicted about it, things were going well with them and they wanted to move in together _but_ since it was a decision that very much effected the twins too he wanted to make sure she and them all got along okay which was difficult when they were at Hogwarts so much of the year. In the wake of the deaths it was incredibly out of place to try force her on them but if she did live with them she'd be around them when they were grieving anyway, considering how accustomed they were to spending so much time together it was all strange and mean to just cut her out of his life completely – as he had initially after Vern's death - for the summer _so_… he thought her still being just around sometimes was kind of the best and fairest thing he could do right now. He thought.

"Cade seriously! Orous too!" Tabitha yelled once more, startling him from the train of thought he'd veered off into, "You should all see this!"

"I'm coming!" Cade offered.

He hastily drying his hands and almost tripping over one of the unhelpfully positioned dogs to go into the front room as Orous also ambled unhappily in. She and Maurice – and Noelle the dog - were both on the couch, the deaf wizard unusually focused on the television set with a look of intense concentration and his necklace gripped in his strange black hand. Tabitha simply pointed to the screen when they looked at her in askance, he and Orous walked over to see.

It looked like a news report before it switched, changing to a different location like an in the field report except it hardly seemed official as there was some obvious dirt and smudges from fingerprints around the edge like the camera lens hadn't been cleaned. It showed a fairly beautiful woman maybe in her late thirties or maybe pushing early fortie, she was thin and had dark black wavy hair trailing to her shoulders and dark brown eyes set in a rather pale face. She was dressed all in black, from her boots to her pants to her shirt and her cloak which was fastened by a silver serpent clasp. She stood on dirt ground but the overcast sky behind her gave no indication of where she was, she didn't look like a reporter though.

"_Is it working yet?"_ the woman questioned impatiently, looking off to the side clearly at someone.

"_Yes! Yes, it's live now_," a male off-screen voice provided frantically, his voice having a slight accent.

"_Good_," the woman announced and looked back, adding quietly, "_And it's the circle bit I need to look at, right?"_

"_Yes, Master, the circle_."

"_Alright_," the woman said before clearing her throat and looking directly into the camera with her dark eyes, her expression one of extreme seriousness, "_Hello world, my name is Salazia Riddle. I am the daughter of the Dark Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange of the House of Black, heir to my namesake Salazar Slytherin and descendant of the infamous Herpo the Foul. Many of you watching probably have no idea what any of those things mean but you will know what this means, I am the leader of the Soul Eaters you often call the Shadows because I _am_ the Shadow Master. As the future leader of the world I have decided it is about time I step out of the shadows to bring this world into a new age. I can speak to you using muggle technology and I make no effort to hide myself now nor my location, do your worst._

"_Many of you are no doubt wondering what in the world a 'muggle' is, many of you also likely think I quite mad but all shall become clear. A 'muggle' is what the majority of you probably are, it's what we call a non-magical person. You've no doubt heard of magic and no doubt dismissed it as nonexistent but it very much is, there's an entire world of magic hiding in plain sight because all the wizards and witches of the world were long since driven into hiding from the mass of muggles. _You_ drove my ancestors into hiding, your actions drove them to keep our world both hidden and separate from ours not like how it was millennia ago. You forced them into the shadows and now I bring us all into the light. _

_"If you think I'm crazy then look to your governments, every world leader on the planet is aware of the magical world, every one is in contact with the respective magical leader of said country. They all know, they all keep it from you and all are more concerned with keeping this secret then stopping me, they cared more for that then even trying to stop any of the ten countries I conquered from falling under my rule. They call me evil but I'm being more honest with you then any of your previous leaders have ever been with you, world leaders are either corrupt or fools like that," _the woman recounted before smiling, waving her hand and the camera spun to take in a shot of the sky where streaks of missiles were approaching_, "I am the most powerful witch the world has ever seen, I can't even die apparently but if you want to try blow me up America then go ahead. I aim this at a select group of individuals who make the mistake of thinking I'm powerless without a certain Scepter."_

The Shadow Master twirled her hands through the air and Cade watched in shock as all the missiles in the sky started turning around slowly, every single one, before she flicked her hand and they all started shooting off back the way they'd came. More missiles started appearing but she continued sending them back, after a few minutes they stopped coming. On the screen miniature windows started popping up along the bottom and side of the screen, each one showing news reports of American cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC – being assaulted by hails of missiles. The Shadow Master turned back to the camera.

"_If you don't know, I just sent them back to the country they came from because you're next America, I can't have people trying to blow up my people_," the Shadow Master told them casually and gestured, making the camera rise off the ground more. He realized she'd been standing on a raised portion of ground as below were thousands upon thousands of rotting corpses that were all snarling menacingly, she casually strolled back into view, "_They're called Inferi, not zombies by the way but they are the dead that I control. There are so many casualties in the way I have to take over countries, this is but a fraction of them but I do put all the dead to good use. To all world leaders, I offer communications if you wish to discuss the circumstances of your surrender if not I will take your country by force. To all the people in the world, I will accept anyone who wishes to join me but know you will have to comply with my rules. Welcome people both magical, muggles and all half-breeds because this separation is no longer acceptable as no one should have to live in the shadows, today a new age dawns us all."_

She swirled her hand once more, causing a fiery azure skeletal snake symbol to form. It coiled itself into a random shape with its head central and fanged mouth hanging open with its forked tongue flickering at them, Cade recognized it as the Shadows' symbol. It jumped at the camera and the screen cut to black.


	20. Note: VII

**_UPDATE!_**

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**_Author's Note:_**

_This has been __Book VI in this series _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Crux of the Alchemist**, _if you intend to keep reading:  
_ _  
__Book VII in this series_ **Gray: ****Scorpius Malfoy and the Legion of the Dead **_has been uploaded and completed  
Book IIX in this series _**Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Man of Many Souls**_ is in progress_

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**_Book VII Preview:_**

He ran. Fleeing as fast as his short legs could carry him, hugging the bushes for cover despite the fact he had a Disillusionment Charm on. His head ached so much he was almost numb to how the brambles jabbed him painfully, he knew he'd be hurt worse if he couldn't get away. He wasn't entirely sure that house-elves couldn't see through those kinds of charms anyway, he also hadn't much faith in his magical ability considering his young age. By his count, he was only four and a half.

He stumbled out of the greenery with leaves getting stuck in his crimson hair which had a slight wave to it, panting heavily from the run while his violently violet eyes picked up light. He peered towards it, his eyes stinging from tiredness and his aching body shaking weakly. He never thought he'd miss the Training Tower but here he did. At least they gave him regular food and rest, he also got to see his brother. He didn't think Vathan was even alive at this point. He blinked that sad thought from his mind, he needed to focus or he'd never get away. It looked like a muggle dwelling, he saw a truck outside of the little cottage anyway with its thatched roof.


End file.
